A trio of Barça players are among the 30 candidates nominated for the 2018 Ballon d’Or, an award given by the French magazine, France Football, to the best player in the world. The three Barça players are Luis Suárez, Ivan Rakitic and, once again, Leo Messi.

Leo Messi has won the award a total of 5 times (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2015). Messi’s first was bestowed by France Football, while his other four were given jointly by FIFA and France Football.

Besides the Barça players nominated, the others are: Sergio Agüero (Manchester City), Alisson (Liverpool), Gareth Bale (Real Madrid), Karim Benzema (Real Madrid), Edinson Cavani (PSG), Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid), 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), Hugo Lloris (Tottenham), Mario Mandzukic (Juventus), Sadio Mané (Liverpool), Marcelo (Real Madrid), Kylian Mbappé (PSG), Luka Modric (Real Madrid), Neymar Jr (PSG), Jan Oblak (Atlético de Madrid), Paul Pogba (Manchester United), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Mohamed Salah (Liverpool) and Raphael Varane (Real Madrid).

Lieke Martens nominated for first women’s edition

The FC Barcelona player, Lieke Martens, is one of the 15 nominees for the first edition of the France Football’s women’s Ballon d’Or. The Dutch forward is the only Barça Women’s player nominated. Martens was named the best player of both FIFA and UEFA in 2017.

The other 14 women’s nominees are: Lucy Bronze, Ada Hegerberg, Amandine Henry, Wendie Renard, Amel Majri, Saki Kumagai, Dzsenifer Marozsán, Marta, Lindsey Horan, Christiane Sinclair, Sam Kerr, Fran Kirby, Pernille Harder, and Megan Rapinoe.