Liverpool stars Sadio Mane, Virgil van Dijk and Roberto Firmino on Ballon d’Or shortlist – so far

A raft of Liverpool’s Champions League winners, including Sadio Mane, Virgil van Dijk and Roberto Firmino, have been included on the Ballon d’Or’s 30-man shortlist, which will be completed later this evening.

Mane was among the first five nominees revealed by France Football on Monday, with team-mates Alisson, Georginio Wijnaldum and Trent Alexander-Arnold also being named.

Manchester City pair Sergio Aguero and Bernardo Silva made the cut too, alongside Champions League runners-up Hugo Lloris and Heung-Min Son from Tottenham.

Arsenal striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has also been included in the 30-strong list, as have World Cup winner Kylian Mbappe and five-time Ballon d’Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo.

So far, 20 players have been announced ahead of the ceremony on December 2 at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris, with Luka Modric breaking the Lionel Messi and Ronaldo stronghold on the trophy with his 2018 victory.

More to follow…

The full shortlist (so far)

• Sadio Mane (Liverpool)
• Hugo Lloris (Tottenham)
• Dusan Tadic (Ajax)
• Frenkie De Jong (Barcelona)
• Sergio Aguero (Man City)
• Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool)
• Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Arsenal)
• Kylian Mbappe (PSG)
• Marc-Andre Ter Stegen (Barcelona)
• Donny van de Beek (Ajax)
• Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus)
• Alisson Becker (Liverpool)
• Matthijs de Ligt (Juventus)
• Karim Benzema (Real Madrid)
• Georginio Wijnaldum (Liverpool)
• Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)
• Bernardo Silva (Man City)
• Heung-Min Son (Tottenham)
• Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
• Roberto Firmino (Liverpool)

White, Bronze nominated for Women’s Ballon d’Or

England Women internationals Ellen White and Lucy Bronze have been named on the 20-woman shortlist for the Women’s Ballon d’Or.

USA Women stars Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan – who tied with White for the Golden Boot at the 2019 Women’s World Cup – have also been included, along with last year’s winner of the inaugural award, Ada Hegerberg.

Pernille Harder and Dzenifer Marozsan are shortlisted once again after being beaten to the accolade by Hegerberg in 2018, with Brazil and Orlando Pride forward Marta also included.

The full shortlist

• Sam Kerr (Chicago Red Stars)
• Ellen White (Man City)
• Nilla Fischer (Wolfsburg)
• Amandine Henry (Lyon)
• Lucy Bronze (Lyon)
• Alex Morgan (Orlando Pride)
• Vivianne Miedema (Arsenal)
• Dzenifer Marozsan (Lyon)
• Pernille Harder (Wolfsburg)
• Sarah Bouhaddi (Lyon)
• Megan Rapinoe (Reign FC)
• Lieke Martens (Barcelona)
• Sari van Veenendaal (Atletico Madrid)
• Wendie Renard (Lyon)
• Rose Lavelle (Washington Spirit)
• Marta (Orlando Pride)
• Ada Hegerberg (Lyon)
• Kosovare Asllani (CD Tacon)
• Sofia Jakobsson (CD Tacon)
• Tobin Heath (Portland Thorns)

(c) Sky Sports 2019: Liverpool stars Sadio Mane, Virgil van Dijk and Roberto Firmino on Ballon d’Or shortlist – so far