Cristiano Ronaldo has been left to contend with former team-mate Luka Modric and Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah for the Fifa player of the year, as Lionel Messi failed to make the cut.
Ronaldo was the Champions League top scorer as Real Madrid lifted the title a fourth time in five years before heading for pastures new with Juventus in July.
Modric is also part of that Madrid side that has dominated the Champions League in recent years and won the Golden Ball for the best player at the World Cup for leading Croatia to the final.
Salah scored 44 goals in an incredible debut season for Liverpool before being robbed of his chance to make an impression in the Champions League final by an early injury.
However, Barcelona’s Lionel Messi failed the make the top three, the first time he will fail to do so since 2007. Messi has taken home the individual award five times, level with Ronaldo who now have a chance to leapfrog his archrival.
