Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo and Barcelona’s Lionel Messi will today find out who gets bragging rights for the next year as the winner of the 2016 Ballon d’Or is revealed .
The award, now separated from Fifa and back with France Football magazine, is voted by nearly 200 top journalists around the world.
No one else has won the award, in either of its guises, since Kaka in 2007, and it seems unthinkable that anyone else on the 30-man shortlist – which includes Leicester City’s Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez and Manchester United’s world-record signing Paul Pogba – will do so tonight.
Currently, Messi is winning this personal battle between the duo – with five awards (including last year’s Fifa Ballon d’Or) to Ronaldo’s three.
But the Portuguese star is many pundits’ favourite this year after steering Portugal to victory at Euro 2016 and has, in fact, won this year’s award, according to a leaked front cover of France Football.
Just for posterity’s sake, here is the full shortlist :
From England: Sergio Aguero (Manchester City), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Borussia Dortmund), Gareth Bale (Real Madrid), Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid), Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City), Paulo Dybala (Juventus), Diego Godin (Atletico Madrid), Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid), Gonzalo Higuain (Juventus), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Manchester United), Andres Iniesta (Barcelona), Koke (Atletico Madrid), Toni Kroos (Real Madrid), Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich), Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich), Luka Modric (Real Madrid), Riyad Mahrez (Leicester), Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Hugo Lloris (Tottenham), Dimitri Payet (West Ham), Paul Pogba (Manchester United), Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich), Pepe (Real Madrid), Neymar (Barcelona), Rui Patricio (Sporting Lisbon), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Luis Suarez (Barcelona), Jamie Vardy (Leicester), Arturo Vidal (Bayern Munich)
It’s very obvious, Cr7 is the man of the hour..
#Vivamadrid #Vivaportugal.
Manny the long lost MDB’er