Liverpool’s Champions League winning trio of Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Sadio Mane joined regulars Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi on the shortlist for The Best FIFA Men’s player award, world soccer’s governing body announced on Wednesday.
Salah and Mane shared the Premier League Golden Boot — with Arsenal’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang — for the league’s top scorer with 22 goals each while Messi was the leading scorer in both La Liga (36 goals) and the Champions League (12 goals) last season.
Centre back Van Dijk was voted both the Premier League Player of the Season and the Players’ Player of the Year, and was instrumental in the Merseyside club’s sixth European Cup triumph.
Ronaldo won Italy’s Serie A title in his debut season with Juventus and was also voted the league’s most valuable player. He also led Portugal to the inaugural UEFA Nations League title last month.