FIFA Football Awards: Can Luka Modric win the Best Men's Player of 2018 award?

The contest will be all the more interesting considering the surprise omission of Argentinian striker Lionel Messi who has been a part of the nominees since 2006.

Pic courtesy: Reuters

Luka Modric played a key role in Cristiano Ronaldo's success at former club Real Madrid over the years, creating goalscoring opportunities out of thin air. However, the midfielder will be looking to make it 2/2 against his former teammate at the FIFA Football Awards to be held in London on Monday. 

Luka Modric, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Mohammad Salah have been nominated as the three finalists for the best FIFA Men's Player of 2018 award. The three footballers were similarly nominated recently for the UEFA Player of the Year award with the Croatian midfielder awarded the honour at Ronaldo's expense. What makes it all the more interesting is the surprising omission of Argentinian striker Lionel Messi who has been a part of the nominees since 2006. 

Egyptian footballer Salah enjoyed one of the finest seasons in his career so far leading Liverpool to the final of the Champions League, defeating quality opposition like Manchester City and Roma along the road. Modric's performances played a key role in Real Madrid winning a record third consecutive Champions League title with Croatia emerging as finalists in the recently concluded world cup as well. Ronaldo's goalscoring exploits in the Champions League where he scored the highest number of goals for the 6th consecutive year, lifting the title for a record 5th time hold him in good stead as well. 

Today’s the day 

Who will be crowned #TheBest? #FIFAFootballAwards — FIFA.com (@FIFAcom) September 24, 2018

Marta, Ada Hegerberg and Dzsenifer Marozsan are the 3 nominees for the best FIFA Women's Player of 2018 award. 

"Marta, you're in the final three!"#Marta explains her celebration dance upon hearing she was among #TheBest finalists pic.twitter.com/wZD1cfIjdt — FIFA.com (@FIFAcom) September 23, 2018

On the other hand, World-Cup winning manager Didier Deschamps, Croatian Zlatko Dalic and former Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane will be battling it out for the best FIFA Men's Coach category. Gareth Bale, Lionel Messi, Benjamin Pavard, Denis Cheryshev, Ricardo Quaresma, Benjamin Pavard, Cristiano Ronaldo are amongst the contestants for the FIFA Puskas Goal of the year award. Ex-Chelsea keeper Thibaut Courtois, Kasper Schmeichel, and Hugo Lloris will be contending for the goalkeeper of the year award with the competition expected to be intense.