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Ballon d'Or rankings: Ronaldo comes 3rd, Liverpool dominate top 10

FRANCK FIFE / AFP / Getty

Lionel Messi took home his record sixth Ballon d'Or award on Monday, with 29 other candidates rounding out the typically star-studded field of finalists.

Some observers had tipped Liverpool stalwart Virgil van Dijk to pip the diminutive Argentine to the honor, but the Dutchman settled for second place. Had he captured the accolade, Van Dijk would've become the first defender since Fabio Cannavaro in 2006 to claim football's most coveted individual prize.

Cristiano Ronaldo, meanwhile, finished third in the voting, and now sits one trophy behind Messi's all-time leading tally.

European champions Liverpool dominated the remainder of the top ten. With Sadio Mane (fourth) and Mohamed Salah (fifth) joining Van Dijk near the pinnacle of the list, the Reds became the first team since Barcelona in 2016 to have three players finish in the top five.

Here's how the 30 finalists ultimately stacked up:

Rank Player Club Country
1 Lionel Messi Barcelona Argentina
2 Virgil van Dijk Liverpool Netherlands
3 Cristiano Ronaldo Juventus Portugal
4 Sadio Mane Liverpool Senegal
5 Mohamed Salah Liverpool Egypt
6 Kylian Mbappe PSG France
7 Alisson* Liverpool Brazil
8 Robert Lewandowski Bayern Munich Poland
9 Bernardo Silva Manchester City Portugal
10 Riyad Mahrez Manchester City Algeria
11 Frenkie de Jong Barcelona Netherlands
12 Raheem Sterling Manchester City England
13 Eden Hazard Real Madrid Belgium
14 Kevin De Bruyne Manchester City Belgium
15 Matthijs de Ligt** Juventus Netherlands
16 Sergio Aguero Manchester City Argentina
17 Roberto Firmino Liverpool Brazil
18 Antoine Griezmann Barcelona France
19 Trent Alexander-Arnold Liverpool England
T20 Dusan Tadic Ajax Serbia
T20 Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang Arsenal Gabon
22 Heung-Min Son Tottenham South Korea
23 Hugo Lloris Tottenham France
T24 Marc-Andre ter Stegen Barcelona Germany
T24 Kalidou Koulibaly Napoli Senegal
T26 Georginio Wijnaldum Liverpool Netherlands
T26 Karim Benzema Real Madrid France
T28 Donny van de Beek Ajax Netherlands
T28 Marquinhos PSG Brazil
T28 Joao Felix Atletico Madrid Portugal

*Won the inaugural Yachine Trophy as the world's top goalkeeper

**Won the Kopa Trophy as the world's best under-21 player

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