The Best FIFA Football Awards take place on Monday night with Lionel Messi, Robert Lewandowski and Mohamed Salah battling for The Best FIFA Men's Player award.
Lewandowski won last year’s award but Messi scooped his record-breaking seventh Ballon d'Or title as he landed the 2021 accolade in November.
That was a decision that led to multiple football legends criticising the verdict to award Messi the award ahead of the Bayern star, who has broken multiple goal scoring records in the past two-and-a-half seasons.
The duo is joined in the top three by Liverpool and Egypt forward Salah, who is the Premier League's top scorer this season and has 23 goals across all competitions for the Reds.
The top three list was confirmed earlier this month after an initial 11-man shortlist for the award was released in November – including Cristiano Ronaldo.
These are our top 10 footballers from the past 12 months and where they should rank in the final standings.
10) Cristiano Ronaldo, Man United
Cristiano Ronaldo won the first two editions of this award – 2016 and 2017 – and has been on the podium every year since.
Now aged 36, it is no surprise to see him slip down the rankings after his summer move to Manchester United – where he netted 14 goals already this campaign.
The Portuguese superstar missed out on the Serie A title last season with Juventus but did hit 29 league goals – the highest in the division while winning the Coppa Italia.
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Ronaldo, 36, also won the Golden Boot at Euro 2020, despite Portugal being eliminated at the Round of 16 stage, with five goals in four appearances.
Additionally, Ronaldo became the all-time leading international goalscorer (currently on 115 goals – three clear of Ali Daei) and has bagged 13 goals in 14 appearances for Portugal in 2021.
9) Kevin de Bruyne, Man City
The only Manchester City player to be included in the list of FIFA The Best nominees, which may seem a little harsh but a lack of international titles has counted against the team’s players.
De Bruyne was majestic as he guided City to yet another Premier League title last season alongside their first ever Champions League final.
The best assister in world football and technically is second to none.
8) Jorginho, Chelsea
The one player who played a key role in both the Champions League and Euro 2020 successful teams this season explains the midfielder’s place on the list.
The Italy international won the UEFA Men’s Player of the Year 2020-21 and was included in the Euro 2020 Team of the Tournament.
He ranked third in last year’s Ballon d’Or rankings due to his team’s successes.
Non-goalscoring midfielder Luka Modric won the award in 2018 and Jorginho will have been disappointed to have missed out on another podium finish.
7) Erling Haaland, Borussia Dortmund
Erling Haaland continued his machine-like efficiency for Borussia Dortmund and Norway – netting 74 goals in 72 appearances for club and country since the start of last season.
His goals propelled Dortmund to the Champions League quarter finals last season and the DFB Pokal crown, continuing his ratio as scoring a goal-per-game.
Aged 22, Haaland appears to be establishing a long-term rivalry with Kylian Mbappe as the two successors to Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi in terms of their remarkable goal output.
His lack of trophies and Norway failing to reach a major tournament will count against Haaland but his skillset is absolutely remarkable and a colossal transfer is rumoured to be in the pipeline for this year.
6) N'Golo Kante, Chelsea
The main man in a Chelsea side who won the Champions League and enjoyed a return to form under Thomas Tuchel.
Kante has been derailed by injury problems, he has started just 54 Premier League matches since the start of the 2019/20 campaign out of a possible 98.
Kante won the Man of the Match award for his performance in the Champions League final and won the Champions League Midfielder of the Season.
Outside of star forwards, there are few players who carry such significance at the elite level as the former Leicester player.
5) Kylian Mbappe, PSG
Kylian Mbappe has 19 goals and counting for Paris Saint-Germain this season and remains their key man ahead of Neymar and Lionel Messi.
He also starred for France as they lifted the Nations League title in November, netting in the semi-final against Belgium and scoring in the final against Spain.
Mbappe appears destined to win football’s top individual award at some stage in his career as he continues his decisiveness in football’s elite.
Out of contract at the end of this campaign, there is great speculation over his future destination.
4) Karim Benzema, Real Madrid
Unlucky to miss out on a podium finish in the final three candidates for FIFA’s The Best award, Benzema continues to age like a fine wine.
Benzema has already bagged 24 goals in just 27 appearances for Real Madrid this campaign and is in the form of his life, now aged 34.
He has also enjoyed a return to the France international setup, for whom he netted five goals in 10 games and helped secure the Nations League title for them – netting in both the semi-final and final, the latter of which was a remarkable strike.
Real Madrid have lost stars in recent years but Benzema has not only become their most important and influential player, but also the standout player in La Liga.
3) Lionel Messi, PSG
Things have not gone to plan for Messi since his summer transfer to PSG from Barcelona – he has found the net just once in Ligue 1 and suffered from physical problems.
Messi scored 38 goals in 47 games last season in what proved to be his final season at Barcelona before winning the Copa America (where he was top scorer and top assister) with Argentina – his first international title.
There is little doubt that he remains one of the world’s most important top-level players but, now aged 34, his powers are inevitably starting to wane.
Having won the Ballon d’Or title somewhat controversially, he will be a strong contender to add The Best title but his form this season is behind the pace of the top two.
2) Mohamed Salah, Liverpool
Mohamed Salah came off the back of a relatively poor campaign for his club side, although his goal return of 31 was still notable.
This season, Salah has gone from strength to strength – netting 23 goals and counting with the quality and timing of his goals making him stand out.
The Egyptian continued to establish himself as a truly world class player and despite approaching his 30th birthday, appears to be in better physical shape than ever.
On current form, there is no player who can compare in terms of reliability of attacking quality.
1) Robert Lewandowski, Bayern Munich
The Poland marksman has never won a Ballon d’Or title – having missed out, in somewhat controversial, to Messi for 2021 and due to the awards being cancelled the year before that.
Lewandowski cannot stop scoring, nobody is more lethal in world football right now – his scarcely believable prowess saw him net 48 goals in 40 appearances last term and is averaging more than that this time round, with 34 goals in 26 outings.
He broke Gerd Muller’s long-standing Bundesliga goalscoring record last year with a scarcely believable 41 goals in just 28 league starts.
Lewandowski did not win a major European or international title, but his numbers speak for themselves, and nobody could begrudge him the The Best crown.
