Van Dijk tipped to upset Ronaldo & Messi as FIFA announces Best Men’s Player candidates

The usual suspects of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi were joined by Liverpool trio Virgil van Dijk, Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane among others as FIFA announced the 10 nominees for its Best Men’s Player award.

The full longlist of candidates for the top FIFA accolade, revealed on Wednesday, also includes England forward Harry Kane, Belgian playmaker Eden Hazard, young Dutch duo Frenkie de Jong and Matthijs de Ligt, and French striker Kylian Mbappe.     

There was no place for last year's winner of the award, Real Madrid and Croatia playmaker Luka Modric. 

The public will now vote for the winner on the FIFA website, with the three finalists being announced in September before the overall winner is revealed at a ceremony in Milan later that month.

READ MORE: Modric beats Ronaldo & Salah to claim FIFA men’s player of the year award

The FIFA Best Awards split from the Ballon d’Or to form a separate accolade in 2016.

It was won in 2016 and 2017 by Ronaldo, while Modric’s victory last year was the first time Ronaldo or Messi had not been named the world's best player in 11 years.

After making the switch from Real Madrid to Juventus, Ronaldo scored 28 goals in all competitions last season as he also helped Juve to the Serie A title and Portugal to the inaugural UEFA Nations League title in the summer.

© Global Look Press via ZUMA Press

Messi won the European Golden Shoe and scored 51 goals in 50 appearances for Barcelona in their 2018/19 campaign, which included winning the La Liga title - although Messi again fell short in the Copa America with Argentina this summer as they finished third. 

© AFP / Pedro Ugarte

However, both are tipped to be upstaged for the FIFA award by Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk, who helped his team claim a sixth Champions League/European Cup title at the end of last season.

© Global Look Press / imago-images

As his team’s lynchpin, he ensured Liverpool had the meanest of any defense in Europe’s top six leagues last season, while in Dutch colors he helped the team reach the Nations League final, where they lost to Portugal.

A defender has not won a men's world player of the year award since Italy's Fabio Cannavaro picked up the Ballon d'Or in 2006.

READ MORE: Judging by current Real Madrid malaise it could be YEARS before the Spanish giants return to the top 

Earlier on Wednesday, FIFA announced the nominees for the Best Women’s Player as well as Best Men’s Coach and Best Women’s Coach.

In the Best Men’s Coach category, Champions League-winning Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp was joined by fellow Premier League bosses Pep Guardiola – who led Manchester City to a second consecutive league title – and Tottenham Hotspur’s Argentine boss Mauricio Pochettino, who guided Spurs to the Champions League final.

Ajax boss Erik ten Hag was also nominated, as was French boss Didier Deschamps – last year’s winner – and Tite of Brazil, who won the Copa America this summer.

Portuguese boss Fernando Santos also made the list.  

The Best Women’s Player nominees contained four members of the victorious US World Cup-winning team, including player of the tournament Megan Rapinoe.

© Reuters / Christian Hartmann

England’s Lucy Bronze also made the cut, as did female Ballon d’Or holder Ada Hegerberg – who did not join Norway at the World Cup this summer.   

In the Best Women’s Coach field, the strong favorite will be US World Cup winner Jill Ellis, who recently announced she would be stepping down after leader her nation to back-to-back world titles.

England coach Phil Neville was also among the nominees.