For the best part of the last 10 years, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have been competing for being crowned as the best football player each year. No one has come close to these two, except in every World Cup year.
Messi faced a stiff challenge from his former Barcelona teammate Andres Iniesta in 2010 and the Portuguese sensation faced a similar competition from the German shot-stopper Manuel Neuer in 2014. Both Iniesta and Neuer won the World Cup title but still couldn’t claim the Ballon D’Or. However a good performance in the World Cup certainly weighs a lot in choosing the Best Football player that year and this year should be no different. Below we look at the Contenders especially those who had an amazing World Cup and an even superb domestic season last season.
Mohammed Salah
The Egyptian had the best season of his career with Liverpool scoring 43 goals in all competitions en route to a UCL final for the first time after Istanbul. An unfortunate injury forced him out of the game in the early minutes, and though Liverpool failed to win, Salah’s impact has been pretty evident on the Merseyside Club.
He single-handedly carried Egypt to the World Cup in dramatic fashion after scoring a penalty in the dying moments of the last qualifier game. His heroics have seen him rise to prominence, and a good start to the season can give him have a shot at the title. The injury suffered in the UCL final ruled him out of Egypt’s first World Cup match with Uruguay and as a result the Africans lost. He did play in the second match clearly short of fitness but still won and scored a penalty as Egypt fell 3-1 to hosts Russia. Salah scored again in the dead rubber encounter against Saudi Arabia with a delicious chip to end his World cup campaign with two goals. He bagged the PFA player of the season and is definitely in the running for the Ballon D’Or.
Luka Modric
Talk about winning trophies with his club, taking his nation to a World Cup final that very few expected them to reach and winning the award for the best player in the World Cup, Luka Modrić has everything to his name this time. The only thing that would have ended this debate, a World Cup trophy, is missing from his achievements.
Still, he leads the race for being crowned as the best player in the world at this moment. It is high time that we celebrated one of the best midfielders of this generation after Iniesta failed to win in 2010, which many still consider to be an injustice.
Cristiano Ronaldo
Five time winner of the Award and the only man in history to win it ten years after he won his first, Ronaldo is the full package.
He won the Champions League with Real Madrid, being the top scorer once again. He scored four goals in Russia, and single-handedly carried his national team to the knockout stages.
Though the major debate is between him and his former teammate Luka Modric, there’s very little to separate the two. Ronaldo may yet edge past the Croatian with his popularity and a good start with his new club Juventus this coming season.
Lionel Messi
The Argentine had a good domestic season with Barcelona where he won the domestic double and claimed the Golden Boot for a record 5th time. But all of this was overshadowed by Ronaldo winning the UCL and Messi’s failure to inspire a hugely talented Argentine team to a successful World Cup campaign.
Though his chances may be limited this time round, it is very hard to leave the mesmerizing No.10 out of this list.
Kylian Mbappe
The new French kid on the block has been shattering records since his amazing title clinching season with Monaco in Ligue 1. The following season saw him move to PSG and won yet another Ligue 1 title alongside Neymar and Cavani. At the World Cup, he single handendly destroyed Argentina in the round of 16 with a performance that defied his age. Mbappe went on to score in the Final becoming the first teenager to score in a World Cup final since Pele in the 50s. Besides winning the World Cup, the youngster was named as the best young player in the competition. Mbappe could be the one that finally ends the Messi-Ronaldo dominance.