Paris: Lionel Messi will have Cristiano Ronaldo and Virgil van Dijk as rivals for the 2019 Ballon d'Or award. But not Neymar. When the long list of 30 candidates was announced Monday in the city where Neymar has played for more than two years at Paris Saint-Germain the Brazil star's name was missing from the nominations by a global voting panel of journalists.

Messi and Ronaldo's 10-year grip on the individual award organized by France Football magazine was broken by Luka Modric last December. Modric is also absent one year after he swept the Ballon d'Or and FIFA best player awards after a stellar 2018 with Real Madrid and Croatia. World Cup winner Megan Rapinoe is favored to add a Ballon d'Or to her FIFA award won last month.