Ronaldo favourite to retain Ballon d'Or award

Cristiano Ronaldo is the favourite to retain the Ballon d’Or trophy at the annual awards ceremony in Paris on Thursday (december 7) night.

The 32-year-old, who helped Real win the Champions League and La Liga last season, is one of seven Real players on the list – the most from any team.

Should the Portugal forward triumph, he will equal the record of his great rival and five-times winner Lionel Messi of Barcelona, who is also nominated.

The only other Barca player in the running is Luis Suarez, while Paris St Germain’s Neymar and Edinson Cavani are also included on the shortlist.

The Ballon d’Or, which merged with the FIFA World Player of the Year award from 2010-15 to create the FIFA Ballon d’Or, returned to France Football magazine this year having been established in 1956.

A panel of journalists picks the winner.

Shortlist:

Philippe Coutinho (Liverpool)

Kevin De Bruyne (Man City)

David de Gea (Man Utd)

Paulo Dybala (Juventus)

Edin Dzeko (Roma)

Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur)

N’Golo Kante (Chelsea)

Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)

Marcelo (Real Madrid)

Dries Mertens (Napoli)

Luka Modric (Real Madrid)

Neymar (PSG)

Jan Oblak (Atletico Madrid)

Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid)

Luis Suarez (Barcelona)

Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid)

Toni Kroos (Real Madrid)

Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus)

Sadio Mane (Liverpool)

Radamel Falcao (Monaco)

Lionel Messi (Barcelona)

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Borussia Dortmund)

Edinson Cavani (PSG)

Mats Hummels (Bayern Munich)

Karim Benzema (Real Madrid)

Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)

Eden Hazard (Chelsea)

Leonardo Bonucci (AC Milan)

Isco (Real Madrid)

Kylian Mbappe (PSG)