Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi Top FIFA's 'The Best' Men's Player Shortlist

Juventus superstar Cristiano Ronaldo and Barcelona talisman Lionel Messi lead a 10-man shortlist of nominees in the running to be named The Best FIFA Men's Player for 2019. 

FIFA announced the 10 contenders on Wednesday, with Liverpool trio Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Virgil van Dijk among the five players named from the Premier League in 2018-19.

England's top flight was also a productive year for managers as three Premier League-based tacticians made the cut for Best Men's Coach: Manchester City's title-winning boss Pep Guardiola, Liverpool's UEFA Champions League victor Jurgen Klopp and Mauricio Pochettino of Tottenham Hotspur:

Eden Hazard moved to Real Madrid from Chelsea in June, but his work at Stamford Bridge was enough to earn a nomination, while Spurs and England striker Harry Kane is also in contention.

Ajax pair Frenkie de Jong and Matthijs de Ligt—who joined Barcelona and Juventus this summer, respectively—both made the cut having spearheaded the Eredivisie club's run to the Champions League semis.

Paris Saint-Germain forward and 2018 FIFA World Cup winner Kylian Mbappe finished fourth in this vote last year. He's named again after becoming the first player to win Ligue 1's Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year awards in the same season.

Ronaldo is the only previous winner of FIFA's Best Men's Player award in contention for this year's prize, with former Real team-mate and 2018 champion Luka Modric omitted from the shortlist. The Portugal captain won the award in 2016 and 2017 after FIFA ended its partnership with the Ballon d'Or.

England stars Lucy Bronze and Ellen White each received nominations for FIFA's Best Women's Player following their run to the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup semi-finals.

However, tournament winners the United States dominated with four players challenging for the award:

Ronaldo finished second in the Best Men's Player ballot last season and is back in the hunt following his first season at Juventus, during which he scored 28 goals in 43 appearances. He was also vital for his country as Portugal won the inaugural UEFA Nations League title.

Messi was less successful in terms of silverware as Barcelona won only La Liga, but the Argentinian scored 51 times in 50 games and recorded 22 assists. 

Statistically speaking, Liverpool have the best chance of clinching the award. The Merseysiders were crowned kings of Europe after they beat Tottenham Hotspur in the Champions League final, and they finished one point behind winners Manchester City in the Premier League.

Defenders aren't often favoured in the individual end-of-season awards, but Klopp's star centre-back, Van Dijk, consistently demonstrated quality that set him above the competition, per Opta:

Hazard won the UEFA Europa League for a second time with Chelsea before departing for Madrid this summer.

While Hazard may not have done quite enough to win the award in 2019, former Blues team-mate Cesc Fabregas told BT Sport in June the Belgian will have the platform to triumph with Real:

The vote takes into account all player achievements between July 16, 2018, and July 19, 2019. The winner will be named at The Best FIFA Football Awards show in Milan, Italy, on September 23.