Neymar was named alongside Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi on the three-man shortlist for the Best FIFA Men’s Player Award, which was announced in London on Friday.
Fifa made the announcement during a special media event in London that had legends Andriy Shevchenko, Peter Shilton, Jay Jay Okocha, Alex Scott and Roberto Di Matteo in attendance.
The winners will be crowned at the London Palladium Theatre (Argyll Street) on 23 October.
Real Madrid superstar Ronaldo is the current holder of the award which he picked up in January this year on the back of his exploits for Los Blancos and Portugal.
Ronaldo’s bête noire, Messi returns to the podium after placing second last year and will be vying for a record extending sixth accolade.
Your 3⃣ candidates for #TheBest FIFA Men's Award 2017 💪#CristianoRonaldo #LionelMessi#Neymar
Who will be crowned #TheBest? 👑 pic.twitter.com/ju17TJ0JDA
— FIFA (@FIFAcom) September 22, 2017
Messi’s former Barca teammate and Paris Saint-Germain star Neymar moves into the top three this year, his second podium after joining Messi and Ronaldo in 2015.
Ronaldo who recently scooped the best Player in Europe Award, comes in as odds-on favourite after a 2016-17 season campaign which saw him power Madrid to La Liga and Champions League double.
The panel to decide the Best Men’s Player includes Cafu, Landon Donovan, Enzo Francescoli, Diego Maradona, Carles Puyol, Carlos Valderrama and Edwin van der Sar.
Meanwhile, Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri, Chelsea boss Antonio Conte, and Zinedine Zidane of Real Madrid have been nominated for manager of the Year.
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