Tottenham striker Harry Kane has been named among the first half of nominees for the Ballon d’Or 2017, France Football has revealed.
The prestigious award, which was aligned with FIFA from 2010 to 2015, has been won by either Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi for the past nine years. Ronaldo picked up his fourth Ballon d’Or last year to move one behind Messi.
Kane is one of seven Premier League players nominated, with Liverpool duo Philippe Coutinho and Sadio Mane also up for France Football‘s prestigious award.
Chelsea pair N’Golo Kante and Eden Hazard, Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea and Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne also make the list.
Gareth Bale, who finished sixth in last year’s rankings, did not make the list.
Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, Real Madrid trio Sergio Ramos, Marcelo and Luka Modric, and Barcelona striker Luis Suarez have also been shortlisted.
The Ballon d’Or is judged solely by a panel of journalists after FIFA and France Football ended their partnership in 2015.
In September, Ronaldo, Messi and Neymar were nominated as finalists for the Best FIFA Men’s Player award.
Ballon d’Or 2017 shortlist so far
- Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Borussia Dortmund)
- Karim Benzema (Real Madrid)
- Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus)
- Edinson Cavani (PSG)
- Philippe Coutinho (Liverpool)
- Kevin De Bruyne (Man City)
- David de Gea (Man Utd)
- Paulo Dybala (Juventus)
- Edin Dzeko (Roma)
- Radamel Falcao (Monaco)
- Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid)
- Mats Hummels (Bayern Munich)
- Harry Kane (Tottenham)
- N’Golo Kante (Chelsea)
- Toni Kroos (Real Madrid)
- Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
- Sadio Mane (Liverpool)
- Marcelo (Real Madrid)
- Dries Mertens (Napoli)
- Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
- Luka Modric (Real Madrid)
- Neymar (PSG)
- Jan Oblak (Atletico Madrid)
- Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid)
- Luis Suarez (Barcelona)
- Eden Hazard (Chelsea)
- Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)
- Leonardo Bonucci (AC Milan)
- Kylian Mbappe (PSG)
- Isco (Real Madrid)
Credit: SkySports
