Cristiano Ronaldo, Luka Modric and Mohamed Salah have emerged as the final three for the FIFA Male Player of the Year award.
Ronaldo and Modric helped Real Madrid reach glory in the Champions League before his move to Juventus, with Salah scoring an impressive 44 goals in all competitions for Liverpool.
That means there’s no place in the last three for Barcelona playmaker Lionel Messi, despite his feats to help the Catalan giants win the league title last season.
Modric won the UEFA award for best player of the year last season, prompting backlash from Ronaldo’s agent, Jorge Mendes, for snubbing the highest goal scorer in the Champions League.
Ronaldo’s move to Turin came after he eliminated Juventus from Europe with an excellent overhead strike, which also saw him nominated for the FIFA Puskas award for the best goal of the season.
Croatian midfielder Modric wins his place in the final three nominations for his exploits with Croatia as they reached the World Cup final for the first time ever.
The 32-year-old won the Golden Ball for the best player in Russia 2018 ahead of Antoine Griezmann, Paul Pogba and Kylian Mbappe, who starred in the French winning team.
Mohamed Salah shone for Liverpool when they reached the final of the Champions League, although a shoulder injury from a foul committed by Real Madrid Sergio Ramos prevented him from having a great outing in the World Cup with Egypt.
