On Monday evening in Paris, the 2019 "France Football" magazine's organized "Ballon d'Or" award ceremony will take place.
This year, the "Golden Ball" will be handed over to new hands - 2018 winner Luka Modric did not make it to the list of 30 candidates. This time there are two real contenders - Lionel Messi and Virgil van Dijk.
During the ceremony, the best female football player of the planet, the best goalkeeper of the year and the best young player (U-21) will also be awarded.
The best football player of the year and the laureates of other nominations were chosen by 180 independent journalists from around the world.
The award ceremony will begin at 9:30 PM Lithuanian time.
Male "Ballon d'Or" award candidates: Sadio Mane (Liverpool, Senegal), Sergio Aguero (Manchester City, Argentina), Frenkie de Jong (Barcelona, Netherlands), Hugo Lloris (Tottenham, France), Dusan Tadic (Ajax, Serbia), Kylian Mbappe (PSG, France), Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool, England), Donny van de Beek (Ajax, Netherlands), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Arsenal, Gabon), Marc-Andre ter Stegen (Barcelona, Germany), Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus, Portugal), Alisson (Liverpool, Brazil), Matthijs de Ligt (Juventus, Netherlands), Karim Benzema (Real Madrid, France), Georginio Wijnaldum (Liverpool, Netherlands), Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool, Netherlands), Bernardo Silva (Man City, Portugal), Son Heung-min (Tottenham, South Korea), Robert Lewandowski (Bayern, Poland), Roberto Firmino (Liverpool, Brazil), Lionel Messi (Barcelona, Argentina), Riyad Mahrez (Man City, Algeria), Kevin De Bruyne (Man City, Belgium), Kalidou Koulibaly (Napoli, Senegal), Antoine Griezmann (Barcelona, France), Mohamed Salah (Liverpool, Egypt), Eden Hazard (Real Madrid, Belgium), Marquinhos (PSG, Brazil), Raheem Sterling (Man City, England), Joao Felix (Atletico Madrid, Portugal).
Female "Ballon d'Or" award candidates: Vivianne Miedema, Sari van Veenendaal, Lieke Martens, Sam Kerr, Nilla Fischer, Amandine Henry, Lucy Bronze, Dzsenifer Marozsan, Sarah Bouhaddi, Wendie Renard, Ada Hegerberg, Alex Morgan, Marta, Ellen White, Tobin Heath, Megan Rapinoe, Kosovare Asllani, Sofia Jakobsson, Pernille Harder, Rose Lavelle.
"Kopa" (best U-21 footballer) award candidates: Matteo Guendouzi (Arsenal), Jadon Sancho (Borussia), Joao Felix (Atletico Madrid), Moise Kean (Everton), Samuel Chukwueze (Villarreal), Kang-in Lee (Valencia), Matthijs de Ligt (Juventus), Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid), Kai Havertz (Bayer), Andre Lunin (Real Valladolid).
"Yachine" (best goalkeeper) award candidates: Alisson (Liverpool, Brazil), Manuel Neuer (Bayern, Germany), Ederson (Man City, Brazil), Andre Onana (Ajax, Cameroon), Wojciech Szczesny (Juventus, Poland), Jan Oblak (Atletico, Slovenia), Kepa (Chelsea, Spain), Samir Handanovic (Inter, Slovenia), Hugo Lloris (Tottenham, France), Marc-Andre ter Stegen (Barcelona, Germany).
