Neymar & Luka Modric excluded from 30 man Ballon D’or shortlist as Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Virgil van Dijk top nominations

PSG/Brazil star Neymar Jr. and last year’s Ballon D’or winner Luka Modric have been excluded from the 2019 Ballon D’or nominee list released Monday night with favorite Virgil Van Dijk competing against Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi for the France Football organized award.

The Ballon d’Or has been awarded by the French magazine, France Football, since 1956 and sees their editorial staff put together the initial 30-man shortlist.

Modric beat Messi and Ronaldo to last year’s gong following his impressive run at the FIFA 2018 World Cup and Real Madrid’s Champions League win but his omission this year makes him the first player in history to miss out on nomination the following year after winning it. Arsenal striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was included on the 30-strong shortlist, along with World Cup winner Kylian Mbappe, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, who have both won the Ballon d’Or a joint-record five times.

 Below are the nominated players for the 2019 Ballon D’or award.

Sadio Mane – Liverpool

Sergio Aguero – Manchester City 

Frenkie de Jong – Ajax/ Barcelona 

Hugo Lloris – Tottenham 

Dusan Tadic – Ajax

Kylian Mbappe – PSG

Trent Alexander-Arnold – Liverpool

Donny van de Beek – Ajax

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – Arsenal

Marc-Andre Ter-Stegen – Barcelona 

Cristiano Ronaldo – Juventus

Alisson – Liverpool

Matthijs de Ligt – Juventus

Karim Benzema – Real Madrid

Georginio Wijnaldum – Liverpool

Virgil van Dijk – Liverpool

Bernardo Silva – Manchester City

Heung-min Son – Tottenham Hotspur

Robert Lewandowski – Bayern Munich

Roberto Firmino – Liverpool

Lionel Messi – Argentina/Barcelona