Ballon d’Or nominees 2018 – the full shortlist: Can anyone end Messi and Ronaldo’s dominance?

Sergio Aguero, Eden Hazard and Harry Kane are among the Premier League representatives for this year’s Ballon d’Or shortlist.

The honour, now separate from Fifa‘s own ‘The Best’ player of the year award, is bestowed annually by France Football magazine, which has been releasing names throughout the week.

Gareth Bale, who scored twice in Real Madrid’s Champions League final win over Liverpool, including a stunning overhead kick, is also nominated.

Ballon d’Or: Full list of winners – from 1956 to the present day

The Wales international will be among those hoping to stop his former teammate Cristiano Ronaldo from retaining the award for the third successive year.

The 33-year-old forward, who ended his nine-season stay at Real Madrid by moving to Juventus for £99million in the summer, is a five-time winner of the award as is Barcelona’s Lionel Messi.

The shortlist so far:

Sergio Agüero (Manchester City)
Alisson (Liverpool)
Gareth Bale (Real Madrid)
Karim Benzema (Real Madrid)
Edinson Cavani (PSG)
Thibaut Courtois (Chelsea)
Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus)
Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City)
Roberto Firmino (Liverpool)
Diego Godin (Atlético Madrid)
Antoine Griezmann (Atlético Madrid)
Eden Hazard (Chelsea)
Isco (Real Madrid)
Harry Kane (Tottenham)
N’Golo Kanté (Chelsea)