World football governing body, FIFA, has announced that Juventus/Portugal attacker, Cristiano Ronaldo, Barcelona/Argentina forward Lionel Messi and Bayern Munich/Poland striker Robert Lewandowski are the three finalists for The Best FIFA Men’s Player award.
On November 25, a shortlist of 11 players including Kevin De Bruyne, Sadio Mane, Kylian Mbappe, Neymar, Sergio Ramos, Mohamed Salah, Thiago Alcantara and Virgil van Dijk was unveiled for the prize.
Lewandowski is considered the favorite for this year’s award after helping his club win the treble while breaking goal scoring records.
Ronaldo claimed the prize in both 2016 and 2017, when he dominated the voting after leading Real Madrid to successive Champions League trophies.
Messi, meanwhile, is the reigning holder of the prize but is widely regarded to have had a disappointing year where his club went trophyless
Lewandowski is now in the final three against Messi and Ronaldo and the winner will be announced on December 17.
Lewandowski speaking to OLE admits the competition is fierce.
“If you scored a lot of goals and won everything and were at the top, I don’t think there’s anyone I can compare myself to,” the Pole said.
“I just focus and think about the next challenge, and so on. If I win the award, of course I will be happy because I know everything I did, that it was for the team, and I know that it will be a decision of the fans and the journalists who vote.
“It would be a unique feeling. If I won The Best it would be something spectacular for me and an award for the whole team, because I know how well we played.
“What we did last season, for me, was incredible and I think we were the best. We are the best, there is no doubt. And we want to stay in that place
“It’s always special to win a FIFA award, a dream. Personally, I know how hard I worked and pushed myself to have the year I had. If you love what you do, it is possible to get the prize.
“But I insist, winning it would be a prize for the whole team. Bayern had an unbeatable year.”
