Top 10 nominees for FIFA Men’s Player 2018 out, a BIG name is missing
Published on: Jul 25, 2018 2:07 pm IST|Updated on: Jul 30, 2018 10:54 am IST
The anticipation for the nominees of FIFA Men’s Player 2018 award is over, as the footballing body lists the 10 players who the fans can vote for.
All of the usual suspects are included in the list, barring one massive omission.
Neymar misses out:
World’s most expensive player, Neymar misses out from the list who have the chance of becoming FIFA Men’s Player 2018.
The Brazilian forward missed some parts of the season being injured but was influential in his club Paris Saint-Germain’s campaign of winning the French league title.
However, his teammate Kylian Mbappe has his name in the list. The FIFA World Cup 2018 winner with France, Mbappe has only gotten better with every single season.
Furthermore, he is only 19 years of age, and him outperforming and taking the centre stage ahead of some of the biggest players in the world is a commendable feat in itself.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi favourites:
Five-time Ballon d’Or winners, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are the favourites to win this trophy, as it has been the case for more than a decade. Luka Modric, Raphael Varane and Antoine Griezmann are the other players from La Liga who the fans can vote for.
Premier League’s Resurgence:
Interestingly, after a long time, a healthy contingent of players from the Premier League are also listed in top 10.
Tottenham Hotspur’s Harry Kane, Chelsea’s Eden Hazard, Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne and Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah have been included.
Recently this list has been dominated by players from La Liga, Serie A or Ligue 1. But, the inclusion of the aforementioned Premier League players might be the sign of the changing times.
The 10 players were picked on the basis of their performances from July 3rd, 2017 to July 15th, 2018.
OFFICIAL | The nominees for #TheBest FIFA Men’s Player 2018:
Cristiano Ronaldo
Kevin De Bruyne
Antoine Griezmann
Eden Hazard
Harry Kane
Kylian Mbappe
Lionel Messi
Luka Modric
Mohamed Salah
Raphael VaraneFor the period 3 July 2017-15 July 2018 pic.twitter.com/bqt8tDWY8d
— FIFA.com (@FIFAcom) July 24, 2018