Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo holds the trophy after winning the Best FIFA Men's Player of 2017 Award in London, UK, October 23, 2017. /VCG Photo
Five-time winners Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi were among the 10 candidates for the FIFA best player award announced Wednesday. U.S. forward Megan Rapinoe is the favorite for the women's award.
Ronaldo and Messi were joined by three Liverpool players, Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Sadio Mane. Liverpool won the Champions League title in June.
Also in the list were Ajax players Frenkie de Jong and Matthijs de Ligt, who have since joined Barcelona and Juventus, respectively, along with former Chelsea forward Eden Hazard, who has joined Real Madrid, Tottenham striker Harry Kane and PSG striker Kylian Mbappe.
Luka Modric, who won the award last year after leading Croatia to the World Cup final, was not on the list.
In women's category, World Cup in France undoubtedly served as big criteria. American title-winning striker Megan Rapinoe, winning Golden Boot and Golden Ball at the quadrennial tournament, was nominated alongside her national teammates Alex Morgan, Julie Ertz and Rose Lavelle.
French club Lyon, treble winners in league, Cup and Champions League, witnessed Lucy Bronze, Ada Hegerberg and France's internationals Amandine Henry and Wendie Renard amongst nominees.
Hegerberg was a Norway forward who won the Ballon d'Or but skipped this year's World Cup.
Liverpool coach Jürgen Klopp was nominated for best coach along with Premier League rivals Pep Guardiola of Manchester City and Mauricio Pochettino of Tottenham.
Tite, who guided Brazil to recent Copa America title, and African Cup of Nations champions Algeria's Djamel Belmadi, were also included in the list.
Croatia's Luka Modric (L) holds his Best FIFA Men's Player Award alongside France's Didier Deschamps (C) with his Best FIFA Men's Coach Award and Brazil's Marta with her Best FIFA Women's Player Award during the 2018 FIFA Best Football Awards ceremony in London, UK, September 24, 2018. /VCG Photo
U.S. coach Jill Ellis, who won back-to-back World Cup titles before stepping down after more than five years in charge, was nominated for the award for the best coach in women's football.
Ellis recently announced that she would step down as the world champions' head coach in early October.
Her main rivals will be England's manager Phil Neville and Sarina Wiegman of the Netherlands.
Three finalists in each category are best male player, best female player, best coach in men's football and best coach in women's football.
Votes by national team captains, national team coaches and selected media, and the fan vote conducted through the FIFA website, are weighted 25 percent each when deciding the final result.
Voting is now open until August 19, 2019. And the FIFA award ceremony will be held in Milan on September 23.
Click the website below to vote for your favorite players:
https://www.fifa.com/the-best-fifa-football-awards/
The Best FIFA Men's Player nominees:
Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) – Juventus
Frenkie de Jong (Netherlands) – Ajax / FC Barcelona
Matthijs de Ligt (Netherlands) – Ajax / Juventus
Eden Hazard (Belgium) – Chelsea / Real Madrid
Harry Kane (UK) – Tottenham Hotspur
Sadio Mane (Senegal) – Liverpool
Kylian Mbappe (France) – Paris Saint-Germain
Lionel Messi (Argentina) – FC Barcelona
Mohamed Salah (Egypt) – Liverpool
Virgil van Dijk (Netherlands) – Liverpool
The Best FIFA Women's Player nominees:
Lucy Bronze (UK) – Olympique Lyonnais
Julie Ertz (U.S.) – Chicago Red Stars
Caroline Graham Hansen (Norway) – Wolfsburg / FC Barcelona
Ada Hegerberg (Norway) – Olympique Lyonnais
Amandine Henry (France) – Olympique Lyonnais
Sam Kerr (Australia) – Chicago Red Stars / Perth Glory
Rose Lavelle (U.S.) – Washington Spirit
Vivianne Miedema (Netherlands) – Arsenal
Alex Morgan (U.S.) – Orlando Pride
Megan Rapinoe (U.S.) – Reign FC
Wendie Renard (France) – Olympique Lyonnais
Ellen White (UK) – Birmingham City / Manchester City
The Best FIFA Men's Coach nominees:
Djamel Belmadi (Algeria) – Algeria national team
Didier Deschamps (France) – France national team
Marcelo Gallardo (Argentina) – River Plate
Ricardo Gareca (Argentina) – Peru national team
Pep Guardiola (Spain) – Manchester City
Jurgen Klopp (Germany) - Liverpool
Mauricio Pochettino (Argentina) – Tottenham Hotspur
Fernando Santos (Portugal) – Portugal national team
Erik ten Hag (Netherlands) – Ajax
Tite (Brazil) – Brazil national team
The Best FIFA Women's Coach nominees:
Milena Bertolini (Italy) – Italy national team
Jill Ellis (U.S.) – USA national team
Peter Gerhardsson (Sweden) – Sweden national team
Futoshi Ikeda (Japan) – Japan U-20 national team
Maria Antonia 'Tona' Is Pinera (Spain) – Spain U-17 national team
Joe Montemurro (Australia) – Arsenal
Phil Neville (UK) – England national team
Reynald Pedros (France) – Olympique Lyonnais
Paul Riley (UK) – North Carolina Courage
Sarina Wiegman (Netherlands) – Netherlands national team
(With input from agencies)