Dutch defender Virgil van Dijk has joined five-time winners Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi in the final three for FIFA World Player of the Year. Meanwhile, American forward Megan Rapinoe is the favorite to win the prize in the women's competition.
The reveal of the final three in each category - including for the best coach and the best goalkeeper - was made on Monday at "San Siro" in Milan. The winners will be revealed at a ceremony at the iconic Scala theater in Milan on September 23.
Luka Modric, who won the award last year after leading Croatia to the World Cup final, did not make the ten-man shortlist. Modric had also led Real Madrid to triumph in the Champions League in 2018.
Van Dijk has joined Ronaldo and Messi after helping Liverpool to Champions League triumph in June.
In the women's competition, Rapinoe will face Alex Morgan of the USA and England's forward, Lucy Bronze.
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Ronaldo left Messi and Van Dijk out of the top three
All three finalists for the best manager in the men's competition are from the Premier League: Liverpool's Jurgen Klopp, Manchester City's Pep Guardiola and Tottenham's Mauricio Pochettino.
While Klopp won the Champions League with Liverpool and Guardiola guided Manchester City to a Premier League triumph, Pochettino has never won a trophy in his coaching career, but he guided Tottenham to the Champions League final last season.
In women's soccer, former USA coach Jill Ellis is the favorite to win. Ellis resigned as coach after winning the world title with the USA. England's selector Phil Neville and Holland's Sarina Wiegman are also competing. The Netherlands lost in the World Cup final to the USA.
Liverpool are also favorites to win the best goalkeeper award. Alisson is in competition with Manchester City's Ederson and Barcelona's March-Andre ter Stegen.
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Live: FIFA's best of the year ceremony
Among the women are Christiane Endler, Hedvig Lindahl and Sari van Veenendaal.
The winners will be voted by the selectors and captains of the representatives, the selected media and also by the online voting of the fans.
