LIVE UPDATES: Ballon d’Or 2019 : Messi, Van Dijk, Ronaldo battle for top prize

All is now set for the Ballon d’Or 2019 awards as Lionel Messi, Virgil van Dijk and Cristiano Ronaldo are vying for the prestigious award.

There are 30 world-class players on the shortlist; including last year’s winner Luka Modric. But for many, it is actually a three-horse race.

Liverpool defender Van Dijk is in serious contention alongside two of the all-time greats in Messi and Ronaldo.

The 2019 Ballon d’Or gala is taking place in the Théâtre du Châtelet in the French capital and is set to start at 8.30 pm.

It is expected that the awards ceremony will culminate in the presentation of the men’s Ballon d’Or at approximately 9.50 p.m.

Last year’s winner Luka Modric just arrived and greeted with cheers from the crowd, his Brazillian teammates Vinicius also in

The full shortlist

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)
Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
Riyad Mahrez (Man City)
Kevin De Bruyne (Man City)
Kalidou Koulibaly (Napoli)
Antoine Griezmann (Barcelona)
Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
Eden Hazard (Real Madrid)
Marquinhos (Paris Saint-Germain)
Raheem Sterling (Man City)
Joao Felix (Atletico Madrid)

We are awaiting the top 10 now as the position of the other nominees have been revealed

11. Frenkie de Jong
12. Raheem Sterling
13. Eden Hazard
14. Kevin De Bruyne
15. Matthijs de Ligt
16. Sergio Aguero
17. Roberto Firmino
18. Antoine Griezmann
19. Trent Alexander-Arnold
20. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
20. Dusan Tadic
23. Hugo Lloris
24. Marc-Andre Ter Stegen
24. Kalidou Koulibaly

26. Karim Benzema
26. Georginio Wijnaldum

28. Joao Felix
28. Marquinhos
28. Donny van de Beek

In all, there are four awards up for grabs tonight.

The Men’s Ballon d’Or
The Women’s Ballon d’Or
The Kopa Trophy, awarded to the world’s best under-21 player
The Yashin Trophy, given to the year’s best men’s goalkeeper

Here are the final five candidates in this year’s Ballon d’Or…

Sadio Mane (Liverpool)
Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus)
Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)

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