Lionel Messi omitted from Fifa shortlist as Cristiano Ronaldo, Mohamed Salah and Luka Modric make top three

Messi missed out despite winning La Liga, the Copa del Rey and finishing the 2017-18 season as the top scorer in Europe's major leagues

Lionel Messi has been omitted from Fifa’s ‘The Best’ shortlist despite winning La Liga, the Copa del Rey and finishing the 2017-18 season as the topscorer in Europe’s major leagues.

The three-man shortlist is comprised of Cristiano Ronaldo, his Real Madrid teammate Luka Modric and Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah.

Ronaldo won the Champions League with Real Madrid for the third season in succession and finished as the tournament’s top scorer with 15 goals. Modric also played his part in that triumph and captained Croatia to the World Cup final, winning the golden ball award. Salah helped lead Liverpool to the Champions League final and set a new Premier League record of 32 goals in a season.

Lionel Messi has been left out of Fifa’s top three (NurPhoto via Getty)

France’s World Cup winning captain Hugo Lloris is in contention for the goalkeeper of the year award, alongside Golden Glove winner Thibaut Courtois and Danish shot-stopper Kasper Schmeichel. Former Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane, France coach Didier Deschamps and Croatia’s Zlatko Dalic were on the shortlist for coach of the year award.

The women’s player of the year award will be contested between Olympique Lyonnais duo Ada Hegerberg and Dzsenifer Marozsan, who enjoyed an unbeaten league season and lifted the Women’s Champions League, and Brazil’s triumphant Copa America Femenina captain Marta.

The awards ceremony will take place in London on 24 September.