Ballon D'Or 2019: Surprising omissions in the 30-man list from France Football

France Football unveiled the 30 nominees yesterday night for this year's Ballon D'Or amidst huge expectations. The question is - who will win football's most prestigious individual award this year?

The main Battle is reportedly between Liverpool sensation Virgil Van djik and Barcelona Superstar Lionel Messi. Elsewhere, Cristiano Ronaldo has been nominated for a record 16th time but there are minimal chances for the Portuguese captain to seize a sixth Ballon D'Or.

The most surprising factor of all is the omission of Real Madrid man Luka Modric who won the trophy last year and this has made him the very first player to be snubbed for this reason though.

In addition to this, a galaxy of stars have been omitted from this year's nominal list which includes Sergio Ramos, Neymar, Jan Oblak, N'Golo Kante and Andy Robertson. This has left the whole footballing world in astonishment as they are still uncertain on which player will win the award.

Van Djik was rewarded for his Champions League heroics with Liverpool with the UEFA Men's Player Of The Year 2019.On the other hand, Messi won the FIFA Best Player Of The Year 2019. So, we can expect both of them to lock horns against each other.

Seven Liverpool players - Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane, Alisson, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Georginio Wijnaldum - have made their way into the list through their blistering performances last season under Manager Jurgen Klopp.

Arsenal’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Tottenham’s Hugo Lloris and Heung-min Son, Manchester City stars Raheem Sterling, Bernardo Silva, Sergio Aguero, Kevin De Bruyne and Riyad Mahrez are the other Premier League stars who have been selected as nominees.

PSG star, Kylian Mbappe, once again features in the list as he will look to be in a stable position as he finished fourth last season. Atletico Madrid's teenage sensation Joao Felix has forayed into the nominations for the very first time in his career.

Full-list: 

Sadio Mane, Sergio Aguero, Dusan Tadic, Hugo Lloris, Frenkie de Jong, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Kylian Mbappe, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Donny van de Beek, Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Karim Benzema, Georginio Wijnaldum, Cristiano Ronaldo, Alisson,Matthijs de Ligt, Virgil van Dijk, Heung-min Son, Robert Lewandowski, Roberto Firmino, Bernardo Silva, Lionel Messi, Riyad Mahrez, Kevin De Bruyne, Kalidou Koulibaly, Antoine Griezmann, Eden Hazard, Mohamed Salah, Marquinhos, Joao Felix and Raheem Sterling.

Cover Image Credits: Marca