World Football governing body, FIFA has released eleven nominees for 2018 Player of the Year award.
Egyptian Mohammed Salah, alongside Harry Kane, highest goal scorer at the 2018 World Cup, five-time UEFA Champions League winner Cristiano Ronaldo and Russia 2018 Golden Ball winner Luka Modric are part of the nominees.
Argentina captain Lionel Messi, as well as the Best Young Player of the World Cup, Kylian Mbappe, made the cut.
After aiding his club side, Atletico Madrid, to the Europa Cup title and France to the 2018 World Cup victory, Antoine Griezmann also has a spot in the list.
Others are Chelsea’s Eden Hazard, Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne and Real Madrid’s Raphael Varane.
Ten candidates in each of the four categories have been named, and the men’s awards nominees were selected from the period of July 3, 2017 to July 15, 2018.
Those in the female categories were picked from the period of August 7, 2017 to May 24, 2018.
FIFA will announce the final lists of the three nominees for each of the four categories listed above in early September.
The awards ceremony is scheduled for September 24 in London.
It is the latest edition of the annual awards FIFA has staged ever since the launch of the FIFA World Player Gala in 1991.
The Best FIFA Men’s Player: Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal/Real Madrid CF/Juventus FC); Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium/Manchester City FC); Antoine Griezmann (France/ Atlético Madrid); Eden Hazard (Belgium/Chelsea FC); Harry Kane (England/Tottenham Hotspur FC); Kylian Mbappé (France/Paris Saint-Germain FC); Lionel Messi (Argentina/FC Barcelona); Luka Modric (Croatia/Real Madrid CF); Mohammed Salah (Egypt/Liverpool FC); Raphaël Varane (France/Real Madrid CF).
The Best FIFA Women’s Player: Lucy Bronze (England/Olympique Lyonnais); Pernille Harder (Denmark/VfL Wolfsburg); Ada Hegerberg (Norway/Olympique Lyonnais); Amandine Henry (France/Olympique Lyonnais); Samantha Kerr (Australia/Sky Blue FC/Perth Glory FC/Chicago Red Stars); Saki Kumagai (Japan/Olympique Lyonnais); Dzsenifer Marozsán (Germany/ Olympique Lyonnais); Marta (Brazil/Orlando Pride); Megan Rapinoe (USA/Seattle Reign FC); Wendie Renard (France/Olympique Lyonnais).
The Best FIFA Men’s Coach: Massimiliano Allegri (Italy/Juventus FC); Stanislav Cherchesov (Russia/Russia national team); Zlatko Dalic (Croatia/Croatia national team); Didier Deschamps (France/France national team); Pep Guardiola (Spain/Manchester City FC); Jürgen Klopp (Germany/Liverpool FC); Roberto Martínez (Spain/Belgium national team); Diego Simeone (Argentina/Atlético Madrid); Gareth Southgate (England/England national team); Ernesto Valverde (Spain/FC Barcelona); Zinédine Zidane (France/Real Madrid CF).
The Best FIFA Women’s Coach: Emma Hayes (England/Chelsea Ladies FC); Stephan Lerch (Germany/VfL Wolfsburg); Mark Parsons (England/Portland Thorns FC); Reynald Pedros (France/Olympique Lyonnais); Alen Stajcic (Australia/Australia national team); Asako Takakura (Japan/Japan national team); Vadão (Brazil/Brazil national team); Jorge Vilda (Spain/Spain national team); Martina Voss-Tecklenburg (Germany/Switzerland national team); Sarina Wiegman (Netherlands/The Netherlands national team).
