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With a thrilling FIFA World Cup at Russia and the 2017/18 season packed with stunning individual performances, picking the top candidate for the winner of The Best FIFA Men's award in 2018 represents a big task.
Taking a quick look at the biggest leagues in Europe, you'll find great players with great individual years which translated to team success. Italy is perhaps the league with the least individual performers who catch everyone's eyes.
In England, the story is different. Manchester City's Belgian Kevin De Bruyne had a stellar year, while Liverpool's Egyptian Mohamed Salah was astonishing in the Premier League and the UEFA Champions League, while Eden Hazard had a quiet year for Chelsea, his World Cup for Belgium was huge. English striker Harry Kane was big for Tottenham and scored six goals for his National Team in the World Cup.
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Spain offers the most players in the top 10 list with five. Cristiano Ronaldo will be the centrepiece if we are to talk about players who took part in the Spanish football in 2017/18. Lionel Messi could not stay off of the list, while World champions Antoine Griezmann and Raphael Varane joined runner-up with Croatia, and World Cup Golden Ball winner, Luka Modric.
Kylian Mbappé is the only player in the ten finalists who do not play either in England nor Spain. The PSG star was crowned world champion in Russia with France and had spectacular moments in his first World Cup participation. The 19-year-old scored four goals in Russia, three of those coming in the knockout stage.
Let's take a look into a top 5 list with the main candidates to take The Best FIFA Men's player award home.
#5 Lionel Messi / Argentina
Barcelona's superstar, Lionel Messi, would not be outside of the top ten in the last decade, but his 2017/18 performance and his World Cup for Argentina has some blemishes which cannot help his chances.
Messi was sensational in the first part of the 2017/18, although Real Madrid thrashed Barcelona in the Spanish Supercup, the Catalan side took a comfortable lead in the La Liga. Messi shined in the League and the Copa del Rey, helping Barcelona win both trophies and securing the Golden Boot as Europe's leading goalscorer (only domestic tournaments).
Messi scored 34 goals in the Spanish League and finished the season with 45 goals (the biggest tally in Europe) in all competitions in 54 matches. The Argentinian virtuoso added 18 assists to his stats.
The blemishes on Messi's season are evident. Barcelona's meltdown in the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals versus AS Roma started with Messi's recent inability to produce in the UCL knockout stage.
While the number 10 helped his National Side enter the 2018 World Cup with a hat-trick against a sorry Ecuador team in the last matchday of the CONMEBOL Qualifiers, the World Cup was supposed to be Messi's, and he did not come close to performing at a high level.
Messi's performances versus Iceland, Croatia, and France in the tournament were not close to his best, and he was unable to lead the two-time winners Argentina to the ultimate success.
#4 Kylian Mbappé / France
The 19-year-old wonder boy stunned the world in his first full season at Monaco in 2016/17, and his move to PSG was widely promising in the football world. The French youngster had a good year at Paris alongside Neymar and won the French League and a couple of domestic cups.
Mbappé scored 21 goals in 44 games for PSG and assisted on 16 occasions. The speedy winger scored four goals in the UEFA Champions League, where PSG got knocked out by Real Madrid in the second round. Mbappé reached ten goals in his UCL career in just seventeen games in the competition.
After his first season at PSG, Mbappé received the call-up to the FIFA World Cup at Russia. The 19-year-old scored one goal in the group stage, the game-winner versus Perú, and reached his peak in the tournament in the round of sixteen against Argentina.
Mbappé won a penalty for France in the first half, then scored a second-half brace to give his side the 4-2 lead over Messi's Albiceleste.
He helped France reach the final of the tournament with a good show of skills versus Belgium in the semis. In the final, Mbappé had his moments in the second half, when he received a pass from left-fullback Lucas Hernández and put a shot in the back of the net to give France a 4-1 lead.
Mbappé's goal in the deciding match made him the second teenager to score in the biggest game of the World Cup competition after Pelé's brace versus Sweden in 1958 final.
#3 Antoine Griezmann / France
Recently crowned as a critical member for France in the World Cup, Antoine Griezmann earned his place inside the top 5 of the best football players in the world. The Atlético de Madrid striker scored four goals in Russia and did not hesitate in any big moment for his French National side.
Griezmann scored three of his four goals in the World Cup in the knockout stage against big squads like Argentina in the round of sixteen, Uruguay in the quarterfinals, and against Croatia in the deciding match.
Although the French player is considered by the person who writes this article as the best player in the 2018 World Cup, overall, his 2017/18 season was not the best, which is why he's not ranked higher.
With Atlético, Griezmann failed to advance to the round of sixteen and with the French player scoring only a couple of goals. The second half of the season saw a significant improvement in Griezmann's game.
The Frenchman helped Atlético win the UEFA Europa League while scoring twice in the final against Marseille. In 2018, Griezmann ranks third behind Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi in goals scored for club and country.
#2 Luka Modric / Croatia
Every football fan knows Modric is one of the most prominent pieces in Real Madrid dynasty over the last years, but the Croatian midfielder earned a place in this list due to his excellent performance in the World Cup in Croatia's runner-up effort in the tournament.
The Croatian led his team past the World Cup semifinals for the first time in its history and displayed an impressive midfield play alongside Ivan Rakitic and Marcelo Brozovic. Modric shined in the group stage, especially against Argentina with a spectacular goal from outside the box.
In the round of sixteen, Modric played well versus Denmark, although he missed a penalty in the extra time, he scored in the shootout and Croatia got through. The quarterfinals saw Croatia go to the penalties again, versus Russia, and Modric scored again after having a good game.
The semifinals started sideways for Croatia thanks to Kieran Trippier's early free-kick. Modric did not play well in the first half, but in the second half he drove Croatia's midfield and helped his team to tie the game and win it in the extra time. Modric did not have a great game in the deciding match, but he got recognized as the best player in the tournament by FIFA.
With his club, Modric won the UEFA Champions League for the third straight year and the Croatian, alongside Toni Kroos and Casemiro were an essential part for the Spanish team.
#1 Cristiano Ronaldo / Portugal
No surprises. Cristiano Ronaldo had the season with the least blemishes in the current list of candidates to win the award. The Portuguese star, newly presented as a Juventus player, was the most prominent figure in Real Madrid's quest to a third straight UEFA Champions League title and the fourth in five years.
CR7 scored 15 goals in the 2017/18 UCL (the third most goals scored in a single season) and was the top goalscorer in the tournament for the sixth consecutive time and the seventh overall. Ronaldo did not score in the semis or the final of the European Cup, but he scored in the ten previous matches consecutively (establishing the record of scoring in eleven UCL games in a row, since he scored in 2017 final versus Juventus).
Cristiano was Real Madrid's best card when the team had its worst phase of the season, the three goals Ronaldo scored in the round of sixteen versus PSG came at the time when the team needed the most. His amazing performance versus Juventus in the quarterfinals was the definite turning point in the UCL campaign.
Despite a rocky start in the Spanish League, after missing the first four matches due to a suspension, Cristiano finished the year third in the goalscorers' list and was the player who gave his team the most points in the tournament. CR7 scored 26 La Liga goals in 27 matches.
For Portugal, the magical number seven scored four goals in four matches in the 2018 World Cup, giving his team the chance to secure a spot in the top sixteen and scoring a memorable hat-trick versus Spain the debut match.
The Portuguese ended the season with 44 goals in 44 matches for Real Madrid and scored ten goals in eleven games for Portugal. CR7 is the clear favourite to take home his third straight FIFA The Best award in a row.
