Ballon d’Or 2019 shortlist LIVE result: Neymar misses out on nomination as Messi and Ronaldo lead list
Follow the latest news as the 2019 Ballon d’Or nominees are announced today
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Your support makes all the difference.Lionel Messi will have Cristiano Ronaldo and Virgil van Dijk as rivals for the 2019 Ballon d'Or award. But not Neymar.
When the long list of 30 candidates was announced Monday — in the city where Neymar has played for more than two years at Paris Saint-Germain — the Brazil star's name was missing from the nominations by a global voting panel of journalists.
Messi and Ronaldo's 10-year grip on the individual award organized by France Football magazine was broken by Luka Modric last December.
Modric is also absent one year after he swept the Ballon d'Or and FIFA best player awards after a stellar 2018 with Real Madrid and Croatia.
World Cup winner Megan Rapinoe is favored to add a Ballon d'Or to her FIFA award won last month.
The United States star is joined on a 20-woman list by teammates Tobin Heath and Alex Morgan. Defending her title is Ada Hegerberg, winner of the inaugural women's award, from Europe's dominant club team Lyon which has six nominees.
Neymar has twice placed third in Ballon d'Or voting, both times finishing behind Messi and Ronaldo. Moving out of Messi's shadow in Barcelona, where they won a Champions League title together in 2015, has not delivered the personal acclaim Neymar sought.
Messi won his sixth FIFA award last month, edging Van Dijk who starred in Liverpool's Champions League-winning team.
Van Dijk would be the first defender topping the poll since Italy's World Cup-winning captain Fabio Cannavaro in 2006.
The Liverpool center back was among seven teammates nominated, including Alisson Becker and Roberto Firmino. They also won the Copa America with a Brazil team that managed without an injured Neymar.
Van Dijk and Georginio Wijnaldum also figured in the five nominees from a resurgent Netherlands team. No Dutch player has won since Marco van Basten in 1992.
Liverpool forwards Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah are among a six-strong African challenge, including Mane's Senegal teammate, Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly.
The only Asian player on the list is South Korea forward Son Heung-min of Champions League finalist Tottenham.
The awards ceremony is Dec. 2 in Paris.
AP
When is the 2019 Ballon d'Or?
The ceremony will take place on December 2 2019.
Where is it held?
The 2019 Ballon d'Or ceremony will take place at the Theatre du Chatelet, in Paris.
When will the shortlist be announced?
France Football will announce their 30-man shortlist this evening.
They will announce 5 players to make the shortlist every 15 minutes from 5pm.
The next five names are in!
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Arsenal)
Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool)
Marc-Andre ter Stegen (Barcelona)
Kylian Mbappe (PSG)
Donny van de Beek (Ajax)
Another young Ajax player makes the cut in Van de Beek. There are another couple of Premier League representatives, too, as Aubameyang and Alexander-Arnold make the top 30.
Alexander-Arnold, Ter Stegen, Mbappe and Van de Beek are all nominated for the first time. Aubameyang, meanwhile, has been on the list twice before, in 2016 and 2017.
Five more nominees:
Karim Benzema (Real Madrid)
Georginio Wijnaldum (Liverpool)
Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus)
Alisson (Liverpool)
Matthijs de Ligt (Juventus)
Two more Liverpool players are added to the shortlist in Alisson and Georginio Wijnaldum, and they're joined by Cristiano Ronaldo (to the surprise of no one) and Matthijs de Ligt of Juventus. Karim Benzema is included too.
We're halfway through now. Here are the nominated players so far: Sadio Mane, Sergio Aguero, Dusan Tadic, Hugo Lloris, Frenkie de Jong, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Kylian Mbappe, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Donny van de Beek, Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Karim Benzema, Georginio Wijnaldum, Cristiano Ronaldo, Alisson and Matthijs de Ligt.
The next five have been announced:
Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)
Roberto Firmino (Liverpool)
Heung-min Son (Spurs)
Robert Lewandowski (Bayern)
Bernardo Silva.(Man City)
Again, it's a double nomination for Liverpool as Van Dijk, amongst the three favourites to win the Ballon d'Or, and Firmino are added to the shortlist. Son is rewarded for his fine form with Spurs, while Bernardo Silva and Lewandowski, as expected, make the top 30.
The first players have been nominated for the women's Ballon d'Or:
Sam Kerr (Chicago Red Stars)
Ellen White (Man City)
Nilla Fischer (Wolfsburg)
Amandine Henry (Lyon)
Lucy Bronze (Lyon)
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