The decade-long duopoly of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo on the coveted Ballon d'Or is going to end this year. According to reports, the winner of the 2018 Ballon d'Or is Luka Modric.
The 63rd edition Ballon d'Or will be held in the French capital on December 3. But Onda Cero, the Spanish radio has already announced the winner as the Real Madrid's Croatian midfielder, ahead of Ronaldo, now at Juventus, and Atletico Madrid's French World Cup winner Antoine Griezmann.
Last week, reports have emerged that Modric and French World Cup winners Kylian Mbappe and Raphael Varane were the top three after the votes were counted.
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Modric, after a brilliant World Cup in Russia earlier this year, has been the bookmaker's favourite to pick the award. But, it will still be considered a shock to beat both Messi and Ronaldo.
The Croat already won the UEFA Best Player of the Year award as well The Best FIFA Men's Player Award.
List of nominees:
Sergio Aguero (Man City), Gareth Bale (Real Madrid), Alisson Becker (Liverpool), Karim Benzema (Real Madrid), Edinson Cavani (PSG), Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid), Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus), Kevin De Bruyne (Man City), Roberto Firmino (Liverpool), Diego Godin (Atletico Madrid), Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid), Eden Hazard (Chelsea), Isco (Real Madrid), Harry Kane (Tottenham), N'Golo Kante (Chelsea), Hugo Lloris (Tottenham), Mario Mandzukic (Juventus), Sadio Mane (Liverpool), Marcelo (Real Madrid), Kylian Mbappe (PSG),
Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Luka Modric (Real Madrid), Neymar (PSG), Jan Oblak (Atletico Madrid), Paul Pogba (Manchester United), Ivan Rakitic (Barcelona), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Mohamed Salah (Liverpool), Luis Suarez (Barcelona), Raphael Varane (Real Madrid)
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In 2007, both Messi and Ronaldo finished in the top three for the first time, behind winner Kaka. The following year, Ronaldo won the trophy thus starting the duopoly.
