Complete List of Nominees for France Football's Ballon d'Or 2018

The Golden Ball/Ballon d'Or is on offer as a 30-man shortlist was announced by France Football throughout yesterday. The Ballon d'Or has been the biggest individual prize in football since 1956. The Ballon d'Or is now separate from the FIFA Player of the year award, as the latter was awarded last month (September). The FIFA Men's award was won by Croatia captain Luka Modric, while Brazil forward Marta won the women's award. The Ballon d'Or awards ceremony shall hold in Paris on Monday December 3. The three major player awards are: the Ballon d'Or, the Female Ballon d'Or, and the Kopa trophy - named after French international Raymond Kopa.

The criteria for the Ballon d'Or are: players' talent and fair play, their performances during the calendar year and career achievements. Winners of the past 10 Ballon d'Or awards, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo feature, along with Premier League stars Eden Hazard, Mohamed Salah and Harry Kane. Voting for the Ballon d’Or and its female equivalent is done by soccer journalists around the world. Each journalist nominates three players and first choices are allocated 5 points, second choices 3 points, and third choices 1 point. All 33 previous winners of the Ballon d'Or award constitute the selection panel for the inaugural Kopa trophy.

There are 30 nominees for the Ballon d'Or, 15 for the female Ballon d'Or and 10 for the Kopa Trophy. See the complete list of nominees in the three categories below:

Nominees for the Men’s award: 

Club	Player	Country	Age	Position
Atletico Madrid	Jan Oblak	Slovenia	26	Goalkeeper
Atletico Madrid	Antoine Griezmann	France	27	Forward
Atletico Madrid	Diego Godin	Uruguay	32	Defender
Barcelona	Ivan Rakitic	Croatia	30	Midfielder
Barcelona	Lionel Messi	Argentina	31	Forward
Barcelona	Luis Suarez	Uruguay	31	Forward
Chelsea	Eden Hazard	Belgium	27	Forward
Chelsea	N'Golo Kante	France	27	Midfielder
Juventus	Mario Mandzukic	Croatia	32	Forward
Juventus	Cristiano Ronaldo	Portugal	33	Forward
Liverpool	Alisson Becker	Brazil	26	Goalkeeper
Liverpool	Mohamed Salah	Egypt	26	Forward
Liverpool	Sadio Mane	Senegal	26	Forward
Liverpool	Roberto Firmino	Brazil	27	Forward
Manchester City	Kevin De Bruyne	Belgium	27	Midfielder
Manchester City	Sergio Aguero	Argentina	30	Forward
Manchester United	Paul Pogba	France	25	Midfielder
PSG	Kylian Mbappe	France	19	Forward
PSG	Neymar	Brazil	26	Forward
PSG	Edinson Cavani	Uruguay	31	Forward
Real Madrid	Raphael Varane	France	25	Defender
Real Madrid	Thibaut Courtois	Belgium	26	Goalkeeper
Real Madrid	Isco Alarcon	Spain	26	Midfielder
Real Madrid	Gareth Bale	Wales	29	Forward
Real Madrid	Marcelo	Brazil	30	Defender
Real Madrid	Karim Benzema	France	30	Forward
Real Madrid	Sergio Ramos	Spain	32	Defender
Real Madrid	Luka Modric	Croatia	33	Midfielder
Tottenham Hotspur	Harry Kane	England	25	Forward
Tottenham Hotspur	Hugo Lloris	France	31	Goalkeeper

Nominees for the Women’s Ballon d’Or: 

Lucy Bronze (Lyon), 

Pernille Harder (Werder Brême), 

Ada Hegerberg (Lyon), 

Amandine Henry (Lyon), 

Lindsey Horan (Portland Thorns), 

Fran Kirby (Chelsea), 

Sam Kerr (Red Stars Chicago), 

Saki Kumagai (Lyon), 

Amel Majri (Lyon), 

Dzsenifer Marozsan (Lyon), 

Marta (Orlando Pride), 

Lieke Martens (Barcelona), 

Megan Rapinoe (Seattle Reign), 

Wendie Renard (Lyon), 

Christine Sinclair (Portland Thorns).

Nominees for the Trophée Kopa: 

Houssem Aouar (Lyon), 

Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), 

Patrick Cutrone (Milan), 

Ritsu Doan (Groningue), 

Gianluigi Donnarumma (Milan), 

Amadou Haidara (Red Bull Salzbourg), 

Justin Kluivert (Roma), 

Kylian Mbappé (PSG), 

Christian Pulisic (Borussia Dortmund), 

Rodrygo (Santos).