Senegal and Egypt stars, Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah have been nominated for the 2019 Ballon d’Or, www.aclsports.com can confirm.
The duo lead 28 others in the 30-man list released late Monday by France Football with three other Africans also listed.
Both players played pivotal roles as Liverpool beat all-comers to their sixth UEFA Champions League title last season.
Manchester City and Algeria winger, Riyad Mahrez also made the 30-man list, after his impressive performance for club and country in 2019 which culminated in two titles, the AFCON and Premier League.
Also read; https://aclsports.com/liverpool-duo-mo-salah-and-sadio-mane-make-balon-dor-long-list/
Another 2019 AFCON star who was shortlisted is the towering centre back, Kalidou Koulibaly of Senegal.
The Napoli of Italy man is just one of four centre backs who made the France football list, while the African contingent is completed by Arsenal and Gabon forward, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
The trio of Mane, Salah, and Aubameyang all finished joint-top scorers in the Premier League last season with 22 goals apiece.
Meanwhile, the usual suspects, Cristiano Ronaldo, and his biggest rival, Lionel Messi are also on the shortlist, with Virgil van Dirk, Sergio Aguero, Roberto Lewandowski and Kylian Mbappe the other notable names.
The winner will be announced at a ceremony in Paris on Monday December 2.
In a related development, Super Eagles winger, Samuel Chukwueze was nominated for the KopaTrophy on Monday.
The Villarreal star was one of 20 players listed for the award which recognises outstanding players under the age of 21 in Europe.
Full 2019 Ballon d’Or shortlist
Sadio Mane, Sergio Aguero, Frenkie de Jong, Hugo Lloris, Dusan Tadic, Kylian Mbappe, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Donny van de Beek, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Cristiano Ronaldo, Alisson Becker, Matthijs de Ligt, Karim Benzema, Georginio Wijnaldum, Virgil van Dijk, Bernardo Silva, Heung-min Son, Robert Lewandowski, Roberto Firmino, Lionel Messi, Riyad Mahrez, Kevin de Bruyne, Kalidou Koulibaly, Antoine Griezmann, Mohamed Salah, Eden Hazard.
