Real Madrid forward Gareth Bale is among the early nominees for the Men’s Ballon d’Or award as France Football release their list of 30 at staggered intervals throughout the day.
The individual honour, which is European football’s oldest having been awarded every year since 1956, has been won by either Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi for the past 10 years — with each winning a record five.
Zoom sur les cinq premiers nommés du Ballon d’Or France Football 2018 https://t.co/LHw6FCDYmh
— #ballondor (@francefootball) October 8, 2018
But, with France Football releasing five names at a time alphabetically, neither have had their nominations confirmed.
Manchester City forward Sergio Aguero was the first nominee after winning the Premier League, Carabao Cup and Community Shield, scoring 26 goals in 33 games in 2018 for club and country.
He was followed by Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson, who made a then-world record transfer to the club after helping Roma to the Champions League semifinals.
Then came Bale, who scored twice in the Champions League final — along with Real Madrid teammate and fellow scorer, Karim Benzema.
Paris Saint-German forward Edinson Cavani — who came 11th in last year’s poll — completed the quintet.
This award runs alongside FIFA’s The Best, which was won by Luka Modric in September.
The next set of nominees will be revealed at 11:00am.
Information from ESPN FC’s Ian Holyman was used in this article.