Cristiano Ronaldo is locked in a race to be crowned FIFA men’s world player, alongside former Real Madrid teammate Luka Modric and Egypt’s Mohamed Salah.

If Ronaldo wins on 24 September, it will his sixth FIFA award.

But Lionel Messi — who has dominated the award along with Ronaldo over the past decade — has been omitted from the shortlist after featuring in the top three for 11 straight years.

Ronaldo, who like Messi is a five-time winner of the award, lifted a fourth Champions League title in five years before joining Italian champions Juventus in July.

France’s World Cup-winning manager Didier Deschamps, Zlatko Dalic and Zinedine Zidane were nominated as the finalists for FIFA’s coach of the year award.

Deschamps became just the third man to win the World Cup as a player and coach with victory over Dalic’s Croatia in Russia while Zidane led Real Madrid to a third consecutive Champions League win in May before stepping down.

The Best FIFA Women’s Player award is certain to change hands. Lyon duo Ada Hegerberg and Dzsenifer Maroszan, who enjoyed an unbeaten Division 1 Feminine season and lifted the UEFA Women’s Champions League, are joined by Brazil’s triumphant Copa America Feminina captain Marta in contending for the honour.

Netherlands’s tactician Sarina Wiegman both in contention for the Best FIFA Women’s Coach, along with Lyon’s Reynald Pedros and Japan’s Asako Takakura, the latter having guided her side to the AFC Women’s Asian Cup.

The Best FIFA Goalkeeper Award will be contested between a trio who shone in Russia, namely Belgium’s Thibaut Courtois, France’s Hugo Lloris and Denmark’s Kasper Schmeichel. Meanwhile, the shortlists for the FIFA Puskás Award and FIFA Fan Award were revealed, with voting now open for supporters to help decide the winners.

All seven awards, as well as the FIFA Fair Play Award and FIFA/FIFPro World 11, will be handed out on 24 September in front of football’s biggest names amongst the impressive surroundings of London’s Royal Festival Hall, FIFA.com reported. (NAN)

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