21 Oct 30-man shortlist for 2019 Ballon d'Or announced

The 30-man shortlist for the 2019 Ballon d'Or has been announced.

Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Virgil van Dijk are the favourites to take out the award with winner to be announced on December 2.

The three were also shortlisted for the UEFA Player of the Year award in August this year.

Ronaldo and Messi have won the Ballon d'Or ten times between them while van Dijk is one of seven Liverpool players nominated.

Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Georginio Wijnaldum and Alisson were all recognised for taking the Reds to their sixth Champions League title in May.

Five Manchster City players – Raheem Sterling, Riyad Mahrez, Kevin de Bruyne, Bernardo Silva and Sergio Aguero – feature among the contenders.

Last year's winner Luka Modric failed to make the 30-man shortlist.

Below is the 30-man shortlist for the 2019 Ballon d'Or:

Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)
Bernardo Silva (Manchester City)
Son Heung-min (Tottenham)
Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
Roberto Firmino (Liverpool)
Alisson (Liverpool)
Matthijs de Ligt (Juventus)
Karim Benzema (Real Madrid)
Georginio Wijnaldum (Liverpool)
Sergio Aguero (Manchester City)
Frenkie de Jong (Barcelona)
Hugo Lloris (Tottenham)
Dusan Tadic (Ajax)
Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus)
Kylian Mbappe (Paris St-Germain)
Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool)
Donny van de Beek (Ajax)
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Arsenal)
Marc-Andre ter Stegen (Barcelona)
Sadio Mane (Liverpool)
Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
Riyad Mahrez (Manchester City)
Kevin de Bruyne (Manchester City)
Kalidou Koulibaly (Napoli)
Antoine Griezmann (Barcelona)
Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
Eden Hazard (Real Madrid)
Marquinhos (Paris St-Germain)
Raheem Sterling (Manchester City)
Joao Felix (Atletico Madrid)