FIFA Best Men's Player 2018: Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi Head Nominees

Cristiano Ronaldo is in line to win a third consecutive The Best FIFA Men's Player award after being included among the 10 finalists for the 2018 gong, who were announced on Tuesday.  

Barcelona's Lionel Messi was included on the shortlist, as was 2018 FIFA World Cup Golden Ball winner Luka Modric, and French World Cup winners Kylian Mbappe, Antoine Griezmann and Raphael Varane.

Premier League quartet Mohamed Salah, Harry Kane, Kevin De Bruyne and Eden Hazard complete the lineup.

According to Sport, there will now be a two-month voting period before the winner is announced at a ceremony in London on September 24.

The Best FIFA Football Awards has only been running for two years, so 2018 will be the first time World Cup performances will potentially come into play when deciding the winner.

Ronaldo and Messi, who have dominated the world's individual sporting awards for the last decade, both were knocked out of Russia 2018 at the last-16 stage with Portugal and Argentina, respectively.

Given that neither star could propel their national side to exceed expectations at the tournament, it could be that the pair's duopoly on this type of award is finally broken.

Modric would be the obvious candidate given that he was Croatia's key player as they reached the final, while he also won a third consecutive UEFA Champions League with Real Madrid. 

However, Ronaldo, 33, remains the front-runner after top scoring in Real's triumphant 2017-18 Champions League campaign. 

The former Manchester United man also produced arguably the performance of the World Cup as he scored a hat-trick in Portugal's opening 3-3 draw with Spain.

And he has stayed in the headlines after securing a big-money move to Juventus earlier this month.