Ballon d’Or 2017: Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo to battle Barcelona rival Lionel Messi again for the illustrious award
Harry Kane, David de Gea, Neymar and Philippe Coutinho all make 30-man list in contention to win prestigious prize in December
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CRISTIANO RONALDO will be battling old rival Lionel Messi once again for the Ballon d’Or after the superstars were named on the star-studded shortlist for the accolade.
The Real Madrid and Barcelona forwards have dominated the award for the last nine years – with the Argentine winning it on five occasions compared to the Portuguese’s four.
However, the 32-year-old will be hoping to collect the prize again after he secured it back from the South American 12 months ago.
A host of Premier League stars were also named among the 30 contenders fighting it out for the trophy.
Tottenham and England striker Harry Kane is on the list, as are Chelsea duo N’Golo Kante and Eden Hazard plus Liverpool’s Philippe Coutinho and Sadio Mane.
Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea and City attacker Kevin De Bruyne have also made the cut.
The world’s most-expensive player Neymar is joined by his new Paris Saint-Germain strike partners Kylian Mbappe and Edinson Cavani while Atletico Madrid’s talisman Antoine Griezmann is in contention too.
Future hall of famer Gianluigi Buffon is amongst the names along with Dortmund’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in the star-studded line-up.
France Football revealed the contenders throughout the day on Monday.
Naming five men at a time, they concluded the shortlist at 6.15pm.
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Neymar was the headline name amongst the first batch.
Coutinho was announced in the second lot to be confirmed before Kane’s confirmation arrived in the third.
Griezmann came out in the fourth while Messi was saved for the fifth announcement.
And the current holder of the prize Ronaldo headlined the last set of five to be confirmed.
The winner of the 2017 Ballon d’Or will be announced on December 6.
2017 Ballon d'Or 30-man shortlist
- 8am: Neymar, Luka Modric, Paulo Dybala, Marcelo, N'Golo Kante
- 11am: Luis Suarez, Sergio Ramos, Jan Oblak, Philippe Coutinho, Dries Mertens
- 1pm: Kevin De Bruyne, Robert Lewandowski, David De Gea, Harry Kane, Edin Dzeko
- 4.50pm: Radamel Falcao, Sadio Mane, Gianluigi Buffon, Toni Kroos, Antoine Griezmann
- 5.35pm: Lionel Messi, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Edinson Cavani, Mats Hummels, Karim Benzema
- 6.15pm: Cristiano Ronaldo, Eden Hazard, Isco, Kylian Mbappe, Leonardo Bonucci
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