Ballon d’Or 2018 Nominees revealed! – Messi, Ronaldo, Salah, Neymar, Mbappe, Bale, Pogba make the list

Let’s break it down a bit. Popular sentiment is not in favor of the top-two Messi and Ronaldo this time around. The competition has widened up. How? –

Gareth Bale – With his dominance on the right flank and a blinder of an overhead kick.

Mohamed (Mo) Salah – The Egyptian messiah with his Golden boot award for the highest goals scored (32) in the 2017-18 EPL title race. Not to forget his FIFA Puskas award. 

Luka Modric –The Best FIFA men’s player, Modric, is also in the list with his historic leading of his national team to the World Cup finals – The first time ever for a Croatian side to do so.

Harry Kane – England’s olden boy, squad front man and only 2^nd in the list to Mo Salah’s goal scoring dominance last season.

Kylian Mbappe – Did you see this 19-year old record breaking goal scoring World Cup winning kid last year? We did!

Ivan Rakitic – Another Croatian wonder in the midfield that dominated the in the world cup and also feeds Lionel Messi all those scintillating crosses that finally make the back of the net!

Eden Hazard – Another noteworthy name is the highest contender for a Real Madrid transfer, Hazard, Chelsea’s home grown product that took Belgium all the way to the World Cup semis dominating the left flank!

There’s also a certain Lionel Messi who won the La Liga but got knocked out of the World Cup, and a Cristiano Ronaldo who won the Champions league for the 3^rd time in a row scoring crucial penalties when it mattered the most but to lose in the qualifying rounds of the World Cup too.

So can we expect a new Ballon d’Or winner after 10 years of a Messi-Ronaldo monopoly?

Well, it’s more probable this time around than in the past decade. Brazilian wonder-kid Kaka was the last person to win this award outside the Ronaldo–Messi winning streak. Who’s it going to be this time? Who’re you placing your money on? 

Stay tuned for the winner’s announcement!