The Portuguese and Juventus striker, Cristiano Ronaldo, has positioned himself among the top 3 FIFA players for four consecutive times, having won twice in 2016 and 2017. The other two candidates for the FIFA Best Player award this year they would be the Argentine striker and Barcelona Lionel Messi and the Dutch defender and Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk. Van Dijk is making his first appearances on the list of the first 3 after his sensational 2018-19 season. The best male FIFA player will be announced next month on September 23 in Milan, Italy.
Let's analyze your club, country and individual performances for the 2018-19 season.
Here are the best FIFA Football Awards finalists for 2019
Source: @ fifa.com
Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo, twice winner of the FIFA Best Male Player award, had one of his successful campaigns in the 2018-19 season. After spending 9 years at Real Madrid, Cristiano Ronaldo was transferred to Juventus last year. After the arrival of Ronaldo, he successfully showed his impact on the team. He won the Italian Supercoppa and Serie A title with Juventus in his first season at the club. However, Juventus failed to reach the final of the Italian Cup and the UEFA Champions League. Despite his outstanding performance against Atlético de Madrid in the knockout stages of the Champions League, Ronaldo could not help Juventus move to FC Ajax in the quarterfinals. Ronaldo finished his first season with the club with 21 goals in the league as well.
Ronaldo not only won national titles in Italy, but also led Portugal to win the inaugural UEFA Nations League, where they defeated Holland in the final. Cristiano Ronaldo has recently been named the Portuguese PFA player of the year for the fifth time, as he won the most valuable Serie A player.
More about Cristiano Ronaldo's career
Source: @ Fifa.com
Lionel messi
Barcelona star Lionel Messi also had one of his successful campaigns in the 2018-19 season. He captained the Barcelona team that won the 2018-19 League title. However, Messi once won to deliver his club with the Champions League Trophy. Messi has not won the Champions League in four years, since Real Madrid won it for 3 consecutive years, and Liverpool won the last. Barcelona also surprisingly lost the Copa del Rey title to Valencia, having won it for 4 consecutive years. Nor could Messi deliver to Argentina with the Copa América 2019. Messi's Argentina was eliminated from the semifinals by the host and the eventual winner, Brazil.
Speaking about individual performance, Lionel Messi finished his 2018-19 season with 36 goals in the league. He won the Golden Shoe record six times. He was the top scorer and the best support provider in La Liga for the season. Although Barcelona could not reach the final of the Champions League, Lionel Messi was the top scorer of the competition. For his performance, he was named UEFA Club Forward of the Year in August 2019. He also won the Best Player in the League and the Pichici Trophy after the season.
More about Lionel Messi's career
Virgil van Dijk
Virgil van Dijk is considered a step ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi for every major prize this year. Although Van Dijk is not a striker unlike the other two, his achievements for the club and the country for the 2018-19 season are outstanding. Van Dijk led Liverpool to finish second in the Premier League table with 97 record points and helped Liverpool win its sixth UEFA Champions League title. Liverpool defeated Tottenham Hotspurs to win the Champions League. One of the interesting facts about van Dijk for the 2018-19 season is that no player was able to go through van Dijk last season. He also led the Netherlands to the inaugural UEFA League of Nations, where they lost to Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal in the final.
Although Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi dominated all major trophies during the last decade, Luka Modric broke his domain in 2018. Van Dijk has already won the UEFA Player of the Year award, ahead of Ronaldo and Messi. He is the most favorite contender to win the FIFA Best Players award this year.
More about Virgil van Dijk's career
Who will win the FIFA Best Male Player Award? We will have to wait until September 23, 2019.
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