Salah, Mane shortlisted for Fifa’s Best Men’s Player award

Three Africans are included in Fifa’s shortlist of candidates for the Best Men’s Player and the Best Men’s Coach – Egypt’s Mohamed Salah, Senegal’s Sadio Mané and Algeria’s head coach Djamel Belmadi.

The awards will be presented at an awards ceremony at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan on September 23.

Two panels of experts – one for men’s football and one for women’s football – named the 10 candidates for each category.

Public voting is already open on Fifa.com until August 19.

Liverpool stars Salah and Mane carry the hopes of the continent.

Salah netted 27 goals in all competitions and Mane got 26 as the English Premier League club swept to European Champions League glory last season.

Mane also scored three goals at the recent 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) in Egypt to help Senegal finish as runners-up in the continental tournament.

Belmadi inspired Algeria to success at the 2019 Afcon and he fully deserves his nomination.

The Best Fifa Men’s Player:
Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal/Juventus)
Frenkie de Jong (Netherlands/Ajax/FC Barcelona)
Matthijs de Ligt (Netherlands/Ajax/Juventus)
Eden Hazard (Belgium/Chelsea/Real Madrid)
Harry Kane (England/Tottenham Hotspur)
Sadio Mané (Senegal/Liverpool)
Kylian Mbappé (France/Paris Saint-Germain)
Lionel Messi (Argentina/FC Barcelona)
Mohamed Salah (Egypt/Liverpool)
Virgil van Dijk (Netherlands/Liverpool)

The Best Fifa Men’s Coach:
Djamel Belmadi (Algeria/Algeria national team)
Didier Deschamps (France/France national team)
Marcelo Gallardo (Argentina/River Plate)
Ricardo Gareca (Argentina/Peru national team)
Pep Guardiola (Spain/Manchester City)
Jurgen Klopp (Germany/Liverpool)
Mauricio Pochettino (Argentina/Tottenham Hotspur)
Fernando Santos (Portugal/Portugal national team)
Erik ten Hag (Netherlands/Ajax)
Tite (Brazil/Brazil national team)

FIFA will announce the final lists of the three nominees for each of the four categories listed above – as well as the Puskás Award, the Fan Award and the Best Goalkeeper awards for both men and women – early in September.