France Football have released the 30-man shortlist for the 2019 Ballon d'Or award.Liverpool players dominate the list after their memorable 2018/19 season culminated in Champions League glory.Virgil van Dijk, Roberto Firmino, Alisson Becker, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Georginio Wijnaldum and Sadio Mane are all included among the nominees.Van Dijk is among the favourites to claim the prize - he's already won UEFA's Player of the Year award - but he'll be up against Barcelona's Lionel Messi, who beat him to FIFA's The Best Men's Player award in September.Juventus forward Cristiano Ronaldo is also nominated after he helped Portugal win the inaugural UEFA Nations League.
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The winner will be crowned at a ceremony in Paris on December 2.
Real Madrid midfielder Luka Modric won the award last year, ending Messi and Ronaldo's 10-year hold on it.
But it wouldn't be a surprise if Messi resumes his reign as football's best by winning a sixth Ballon d'Or.
The Argentinian is currently tied with Ronaldo for most Ballon d'Or wins, with five each.
Messi has put himself in a great position to jump ahead of his rival, though, after a spectacular 2018/19 campaign.
He scored 51 goals in 49 appearances and added 19 assists in all competitions, helping Barcelona win La Liga for the fourth time in five years.
But perhaps it will be Van Dijk who wins the award. That wouldn't be surprising, either.
The Liverpool star has developed into the world's best centre-back since his move to Anfield last year and could become the first defender since Fabio Cannavaro in 2006 to win the Ballon d'Or.
The 30 nominees for 2019 Ballon d'Or:
Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)
Bernardo Silva (Manchester City)
Son Heung-min (Tottenham)
Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
Roberto Firmino (Liverpool)
Alisson Becker (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)ó §ó ¢ó ¥ó ®ó §ó ¿
Donny van de Beek (Ajax)
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Arsenal)
Marc-Andre ter Stegen (Barcelona)
Sadio Mane (Liverpool)
Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
Riyad Mahrez (Manchester City)
Kalidou Koulibaly (Napoli)
Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City)
Antoine Griezmann (Barcelona)
Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
Eden Hazard (Real Madrid)
Marquinhos (Paris Saint-Germain)
Raheem Sterling (Manchester City)
João Félix (Atletico Madrid)
The winner will be announced at Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris on December 2.
Other awards that will be announced are the Women's Ballon d'Or, Kopa Trophy (Best under-21 player) and the newly introduced Yachine Trophy, which is named after legendary goalkeeper Lev Yashin and honours the best 'keeper of the year.