Cristiano Ronaldo was conspicuous by his absence from the list of 14 candidates for the FIFA award for the best footballer of the year, in which Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé do appear instead.
The Portuguese star, whose contract was terminated by Manchester United and who was relegated to the bench of his team in the recent World Cup, won the FIFA award in the first two years in which it was delivered —2016 and 17. He was among the three finalists in the following three years.
It is the first time that he has not even appeared among those nominated by a panel of experts appointed by FIFA.
The award changed its name in 2016, after a six-year period in which it had been merged with the Ballon d’Or. Before that period, it was known as “FIFA Player of the Year.”
Cristiano finished seventh in last year’s voting, in which Poland’s Robert Lewandowski won his second successive trophy, beating Argentina’s Messi and Egypt’s Mohamed Salah. At 37, Cristiano joined Saudi club Al Nassr last month, bringing his European club career to an end.
Apart from Messi, the only member of the world champion team to appear on the list of candidates is striker Julián Álvarez.