Messi, Ronaldo, Van Dijk Named Finalists for 2019 FIFA the Best Award

Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Virgil van Dijk will battle it out once again after the trio were named as the three finalists for FIFA's The Best Men's Player award.

FIFA announced the shortlist had been narrowed down to three on Monday, while Lucy Bronze, Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan are the final three nominees for The Best Women's Player gong:

Liverpool defender Van Dijk beat Messi and Ronaldo to the UEFA Men's Player of the Year award last week after he won the UEFA Champions League with the Reds last season.

He also helped Liverpool accrue 97 points in the Premier League, conceding just 22 goals along the way.

Former Manchester United centre-back Rio Ferdinand disagreed with Van Dijk winning the award, however, while Metro's Oliver Young-Myles and football writer Graham Ruthven were among those who felt Messi should have won it:

The Barcelona forward notched 51 goals and 22 assists in 50 matches in all competitions.

His efforts helped the Catalan giants win the title in La Liga, reach the final of the Copa del Rey and the semi-finals of the Champions League, while with Argentina he finished third at the Copa America.

As for Ronaldo, he scored 28 goals and laid on 10 assists in 43 games for Juventus, who won their eighth consecutive Serie A title. He also helped Portugal win the inaugural UEFA Nations League, with his side beating Van Dijk's Netherlands in the final.

In the women's award, Bronze was named the UEFA Women's Player of the Year after a superb campaign with Lyon in which she won the treble, including the Champions League.

She also reached the FIFA Women's World Cup semi-finals with England, winning the tournament's Silver Ball in the process.

Football writer Rich Laverty predicted the award will go to Rapinoe, though:

Rapinoe won the Golden Ball at the World Cup, which she and Morgan helped the USA retain with six goals apiece.

The awards ceremony will be held in Milan on 23 September.