The Best FIFA Men’s Player 2019: Ranking the top ten contenders for the award
Following a long summer break, a new season of exciting football returned this weekend as Liverpool kicked off the Premier League fixtures by defeating Norwich City 4-1 on Friday night.
The tables across Europe's top five leagues will be reset, but discussions over who deserves to win the series of incoming individual awards this year are still rife.
The first of the many individual accolades to be presented is the FIFA Best Award. The football governing body set the ball in motion by announcing its list of ten nominees for the FIFA The Best Men's Player award on Wednesday last week.
The list included award regulars, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, who were joined by Eden Hazard, Harry Kane, Sadio Mane, Kylian Mbappe, Mohamed Salah and breakout stars Frenkie de Jong, Matthijs de Ligt and Virgil van Dijk.
Historically, the winner of the award will be voted for by media representatives, national team coaches, and national team captains, but the organisation announced that the general public would also have a say, with each group getting 25% of the overall vote.
The winner will be presented with the award at the Teatro Alla Scala in Milan, Italy on September 23, 2019.
This article examines the case for and against every nominee and attempts to rank them in order of performance.
#10 Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur and England)
Harry Kane's inclusion in the ten-man shortlist for the Best Men's Player in 2019 joins the increasing list of contentious decisions made by FIFA in recent years. The Tottenham Hotspur talisman has undoubtedly been one of the best strikers in England over the last five years but was struggling for form last season owing to injury.
The England international, who managed 17 league goals and four assists, missed three months of action (17 matches) following an injury sustained in the Champions League quarter-finals against Manchester City.
He had no role to play in the Spurs' journey to their first-ever Champions League final and failed to influence the game when he was rushed to play against Liverpool over semi-final hero, Lucas Moura.
Considering the quality of players who were snubbed from the list, including Fabio Quagiarella, Raheem Sterling, Bernardo Silva and Alisson Becker, Kane's consideration as one of the ten best players of the year is rather puzzling.