Ballon d’Or : N’Golo Kante and Antoine Griezmann among nominees for prestigious award

France midfielder N’Golo Kante and France striker Antoine Griezmann are among the nominees for the 2018 Ballon d'Or.



Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson and forward Robert Firmino likewise Manchester City duo of Sergio Aguero and Kevin de Bruyne are also contenders.

Chelsea's Eden Hazard and former goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois are also on the 30-man list, which was revealed five players at a time.

The prestigious award, Ballon d'Or is given to the best player of the year and was first presented in 1956.

The ceremony will take place in Paris on 3 December, and for the first time, a women's award will also be presented.

Cristiano Ronaldo, five-time winner, who signed for Juventus from Real Madrid in the summer, won last year's Ballon d'Or and is again a contender.

Harry Kane, 25, helped England reach the semi-finals of the World Cup in Russia, while 29-year-old Gareth Bale scored a brace in Champions League final for Real Madrid

win over Liverpool.

2018 Ballon d'Or nominees

Player

Position

Country

Club

Sergio Aguero

Forward

Argentina

Manchester City

Alisson

Goalkeeper

Brazil

Liverpool

Gareth Bale

Forward

Wales

Real Madrid

Karim Benzema

Forward

France

Real Madrid

Kevin de Bruyne

Midfielder

Belgium

Manchester City

Edinson Cavani

Forward

Uruguay

Paris St-Germain

Thibaut Courtois

Goalkeeper

Belgium

Real Madrid

Roberto Firmino

Forward

Brazil

Liverpool

Diego Godin

Defender

Uruguay

Atletico Madrid

Antoine Griezmann

Forward

France

Atletico Madrid

Eden Hazard

Forward

Belgium

Chelsea

Isco

Midfielder

Spain

Real Madrid

Harry Kane

Forward

England

Tottenham

N'Golo Kante

Midfielder

France

Chelsea

Cristiano Ronaldo

Forward

Portugal

Juventus

The national team captains and managers vote for the player and coach categories, some selected journalists and, for the first time, an online poll of fans. Each accounted for 25% of the total.

What is the Ballon d'Or?

The Ballon d'Or award started since 1956 by France Football magazine, with former England international Sir Stanley Matthews the first winner but from 2010 to 2015, was merged with Fifa's World Footballer of the Year award.

Fifa put an end to its association with the award in 2016.

The editorial staff of the French publication complied the list, with journalists from around the world voted to elect the winner, with one representative per nation.

At Fifa's awards in September, Luka Modric was named the world's best male footballer, while Marta, the Brazil and Orlando Pride forward, won the best female footballer award.

Ronaldo & Messi dominate Ballon d'Or award since 2008

2008

Cristiano Ronaldo

Lionel Messi

Fernando Torres

2009

Lionel Messi

Cristiano Ronaldo

Xavi

2010

Lionel Messi

Andres Iniesta

Xavi

2011

Lionel Messi

Cristiano Ronaldo

Xavi

2012

Lionel Messi

Cristiano Ronaldo

Andres Iniesta

2013

Cristiano Ronaldo

Lionel Messi

Franck Ribery

2014

Cristiano Ronaldo

Lionel Messi

Manuel Neuer

2015

Lionel Messi

Cristiano Ronaldo

Neymar

2016

Cristiano Ronaldo

Lionel Messi

Antoine Griezmann

2017

Cristiano Ronaldo

Lionel Messi

Neymar