ADVERTISEMENT

Ronaldo and Bale named among first names on 30-man shortlist

The Real Madrid duo are on the 30-man shortlist for the Ballon d'Or after France Football announced the first five names in contention.

The Welsh winger joins Sergio Aguero, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Gianluigi Buffon and Real Madrid teammate Cristiano Ronaldo in the first batch of nominees to be announced.

France Football magazine is revealing the 30-man shortlist in bunches of five players every two hours throughout Monday.

This year's Ballon d'Or is judged solely by a panel of journalists after Fifa and France Football decided to part ways. They had originally joined forces to combine the previous Fifa World Player of the Year prize with the French publication's prestigious individual prize in 2010.

Barcelona forward Lionel Messi won the award last year for a record fifth time.

ADVERTISEMENT

The last time a player other than Messi or Ronaldo won was in 2007, when then AC Milan playmaker Kaka took the honour.

More names on the 30-man shortlist will be revealed throughout the day.

Ballon d'Or nominees (as of 9am BST)

Sergio Aguero

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang

ADVERTISEMENT

Gareth Bale

Gianluigi Buffon

Cristiano Ronaldo

Kevin De Bruyne

Paulo Dybala

ADVERTISEMENT

Diego Godín

Antoine Griezmann

Gonzalo Higuain

JOIN OUR PULSE COMMUNITY!

Unblock notifications in browser settings.
ADVERTISEMENT

Eyewitness? Submit your stories now via social or:

Email: eyewitness@pulse.com.gh

ADVERTISEMENT