FIFA has named the ten-man shortlist of nominees for The Best Men's player award with familiar faces Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi making the cut.

Soccer is normally a team game but every now and again there's an award that is purely about the individual. That is never truer than when FIFA is trying to decide who to give the Best Men's player award, formerly known as the Ballon d'Or. Since the World Cup is done and dusted and the start of the new season is on the horizon, it is that time of year once again.

FIFA has narrowed down the shortlist of who will be winning this year's award to ten players, and many of them are the usual suspects. Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have once again made the cut. The two of them have ten Best Men's player awards between them, five each in fact. That means this one could be the award to separate them unless a new face breaks tradition.

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Ronaldo and Messi have won the award for the past ten years in a row. Kaka was the last man other than those two to win it all the way back in 2007. It won't be a Brazilian that stops the streak this year though. There is no one on the shortlist from the World Cup quarterfinalists, not even Neymar who has been controversially omitted despite winning the league and cup double with his club side Paris Saint Germain.

via skysports.com

There are a couple of names who could dethrone Ronaldo and Messi though. Kylian Mbappe is one. The 19-year-old impressed in the World Cup, winning it with France and scoring in the final. There's also Tottenham Hotspur's Harry Kane who won the golden boot in Russia, scoring six. Mohammed Salah is a prime candidate as well after he found the back of the net 44 times in his debut season with Liverpool.

The other five candidates still being considered are Kevin De Bruyne and Eden Hazard of Belgium, World Cup winners Raphael Varane and Antoine Griezmann, with losing finalist Luka Modric rounding off the ten. While some are more likely to win than others, it seems likely that the Messi and Ronaldo streak will continue, at least for another year. Prepare for Mbappe to win five of his own eventually though.

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