Ballon d’Or 2019 shortlist LIVE result: Neymar misses out on nomination as Messi and Ronaldo lead list
Follow the latest news as the 2019 Ballon d’Or nominees are announced today
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Your support makes all the difference.Lionel Messi will have Cristiano Ronaldo and Virgil van Dijk as rivals for the 2019 Ballon d'Or award. But not Neymar.
When the long list of 30 candidates was announced Monday — in the city where Neymar has played for more than two years at Paris Saint-Germain — the Brazil star's name was missing from the nominations by a global voting panel of journalists.
Messi and Ronaldo's 10-year grip on the individual award organized by France Football magazine was broken by Luka Modric last December.
Modric is also absent one year after he swept the Ballon d'Or and FIFA best player awards after a stellar 2018 with Real Madrid and Croatia.
World Cup winner Megan Rapinoe is favored to add a Ballon d'Or to her FIFA award won last month.
The United States star is joined on a 20-woman list by teammates Tobin Heath and Alex Morgan. Defending her title is Ada Hegerberg, winner of the inaugural women's award, from Europe's dominant club team Lyon which has six nominees.
Neymar has twice placed third in Ballon d'Or voting, both times finishing behind Messi and Ronaldo. Moving out of Messi's shadow in Barcelona, where they won a Champions League title together in 2015, has not delivered the personal acclaim Neymar sought.
Messi won his sixth FIFA award last month, edging Van Dijk who starred in Liverpool's Champions League-winning team.
Van Dijk would be the first defender topping the poll since Italy's World Cup-winning captain Fabio Cannavaro in 2006.
The Liverpool center back was among seven teammates nominated, including Alisson Becker and Roberto Firmino. They also won the Copa America with a Brazil team that managed without an injured Neymar.
Van Dijk and Georginio Wijnaldum also figured in the five nominees from a resurgent Netherlands team. No Dutch player has won since Marco van Basten in 1992.
Liverpool forwards Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah are among a six-strong African challenge, including Mane's Senegal teammate, Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly.
The only Asian player on the list is South Korea forward Son Heung-min of Champions League finalist Tottenham.
The awards ceremony is Dec. 2 in Paris.
AP
When is the 2019 Ballon d'Or?
The ceremony will take place on December 2 2019.
Where is it held?
The 2019 Ballon d'Or ceremony will take place at the Theatre du Chatelet, in Paris.
When will the shortlist be announced?
France Football will announce their 30-man shortlist this evening.
They will announce 5 players to make the shortlist every 15 minutes from 5pm.
Marco Reus
After a couple of frustrating, injury-plagued years, Reus returned to the top of his game for Borussia Dortmund last season, scoring 21 goals as Lucian Favre’s side ran eventual Bundesliga champions Bayern close.
There could be a significant number of Premier League players in the top 30. Liverpool and Tottenham reached the Champions League final, Arsenal and Chelsea the Europa League final, and Manchester City were dominant domestically.
Giorgio Chiellini
As dominant and rugged in defence as ever at 35-years-old. Chiellini guided Juventus to yet another Serie A title last season, keeping a host of clean sheets along the way.
Neymar
Has been on the receiving end of some criticism over the last year and hasn’t played as regularly as he would’ve liked. But when he has been on the pitch for PSG, the Brazilian remains unstoppable. The Ballon d’Or is likely to remain elusive for another year, though.
Joshua Kimmich
Exceptional whether playing at right-back or in midfield, Kimmich is now undoubtedly amongst Bayern’s most important players. It’s easy to forget that he’s still just 24. He plays with the maturity and intelligence of someone who’s been at the top of his game for years.
Andrew Robertson
It’s been an incredible year for Robertson, who seems to get better and better with each game. Remarkably, he cost Liverpool just £8m from Hull in 2017. Now he is arguably the best left-back in Europe.
Just five minutes until the first shortlisted players are announced...
The first five nominees have been confirmed:
Sadio Mane (Liverpool)
Hugo Lloris (Tottenham)
Dusan Tadic (Ajax)
Frenkie De Jong (Barcelona)
Sergio Aguero (Man City)
Few surprises there, then. Mane is the first name announced and has been backed by some to win the Ballon d'Or. Tadic is rewarded, too, for his fine form at Ajax. He's joined by his former teammate Frenkie De Jong, still only 22-years-old and perhaps a future winner of this award.
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