Messi, Neymar, 27 others battle Ronaldo for 2017 Ballon d’Or

Argentina and Barcelona forward, Lionel Messi, PSG and Brazilian striker, Neymar are among the nominees to compete for 2017 Ballon d’Or with current holder, Cristiano Ronaldo.

France Football Magazine are the presenters of the award and have done so since 1956. They later merged with FIFA before the partnership ended in 2016.

They announced a 30-man list of nominees on Monday, which included star names like N’Golo Kante, Eden Hazard, Philippe Coutinho, Harry Kane, Robert Lewandowski, Antoine Griezmann, Toni Kroos among others.

Senegal and Liverpool forward, Sadio Mane and Dortmund’s Gabonese striker, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang are the only African players on the list.

Messi, having won five times, holds the record for the highest number of Ballon d’Or titles and is followed by Ronaldo who has four.

The winner of the 2017 edition will be revealed on December 6, 2017.

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Here are the 30 Nominees for the 2017 Ballon d’Or:

Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid/Portugal)
Neymar (PSG/Brazil)
Luka Modric (Real Madrid/Croatia)
Paulo Dybala (Juventus/Argentina)
Marcelo (Real Madrid/Brazil)
N’Golo Kante (Chelsea/France)
Luiz Suarez (Barcelona/Uruguay)
Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid/Spain)
Jan Oblak (Atletico Madrid/Slovenia)
Philippe Coutinho (Liverpool/Brazil)
Dries Mertens (Napoli/Belgium)
Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City/Belgium)
Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich/Poland)
David De Gea (Manchester United/Spain)
Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur/England)
Edin Dzeko (AS Roma/Bosnia-Herzegovina)
Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid/France)
Toni Kroos (Real Madrid/Germany)
Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus/Italy)
Sadio Mane (Liverpool/Senegal)
Radamel Falcao (AS Monaco/Colombia)
Lionel Messi (Barcelona/Argentina)
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Dortmund/Gabon)
Edinson Cavani (PSG/Uruguay)
Matt Hummels (Bayern Munich/Germany)
Karim Benzema (Real Madrid/France)
Eden Hazard (Chelsea/Belgium)
Kylian Mbappe (PSG/France)
Isco (Real Madrid/Spain)
Leonardo Bonucci (AC Milan/Italy)

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