Liverpool's Dutch defender Virgil van Dijk will be one of the top three contenders, along with five-time winners Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi for the The Best award, FIFA announced on Monday.
The announcement of the final three in each category—including best coach and best goalkeeper—was made on Monday at San Siro. The winners will be announced at a ceremony at Milan’s iconic Scala theatre on September 23.
Van Dijk had beat them to win the UEFA's Player of the Year Award at the Champions League draw ceremony last week. The defender had played a major role in Liverpool's Champions League title triumph in June. Croatia's World Cup hero Luka Modric had won The Best award last year, beating finalists Mohamed Salah of Egypt and Ronaldo.
In the women's category, USA's World Cup-winning forward Megan Rapinoe is the favourite among the three—her teammate Alex Morgan and England forward Lucy Bronze, who won the UEFA Women's Player of the Year Award, being the other two.
The contenders for The Best Men’s Coach award are Pep Guardiola, who guided Manchester City to the English domestic treble last season, Liverpool’s Jurgen Klopp, and Mauricio Pochettino, who took Tottenham side to the Champions League final, where they were beaten by Liverpool.
Brazilian duo Ederson and Alisson were nominated along with Barcelona’s Marc-Andre ter Stegen for The Best Goalkeeper award.
