Barcelona star Lionel Messi did not make the shortlist for the first time since 2006.
ADVERTISEMENTThis year's Fifa men's player of the year finalists have been announced as Cristiano Ronaldo, Mohamed Salah and Luka Modric — marking the first time since 2006 that Barcelona star Lionel Messi has been left out of the coveted shortlist.
Messi and Ronaldo have dominated Fifa's top individual player of the year award for a decade, with one of the two claiming the title since 2008.
This year's shortlist sees Croatian midfielder Modric and Liverpool's Salah nominated for the Best Fifa Men's Player award for the first time.
Liverpool forward Salah had a record-breaking season, scoring 32 goals in a 38-game Premier League season, as well as 44 goals in all competitions for The Reds.
Modric, the Croatian captain who led the national team to their first World Cup finals, headed up Real Madrid — alongside Ronaldo — when they secured the team's third consecutive Champions League title.
Portugal's Ronaldo, who has since left Real for Juventus, joins Salah as a finalist for the Fifa Puskas award, which honours the most beautiful goal of the year.
Fifa's women's player of the year finalists include Brazil's Marta (Vieira da Silva) and Olympique Lyonnais teammates Ada Hegerberg, a striker with Norway, and German captain Dzsenifer Marozsan.