France Football have revealed the 28 best players in the world in 2019, with numbers 28 down to eight announced ahead of the winner later tonight.
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The cream of world football have gathered in Paris to find out who will be crowned the 2019 Ballon d`Or winner, but ahead of that big announcement, France Football have been drip-feeding those players in positions 28 to 8.
Ballon d`Or No`s 28-20
| 28= Marquinhos |
| 28= Joao Felix |
| 28= Donny van de Beek |
| 24= Marc-Andre ter Stegen |
| 24= Kalidou Koulibaly |
| 23 - Hugo Lloris |
| 22 - Son |
| 20= Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang |
| 20= Dusan Tadic |
The first five players revealed were new Atletico Madrid playmaker Joao Felix, PSG defender Marquinhos and Ajax midfielder Donny van de Beek, all in equal 28th, followed by Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema and Liverpool midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum.
The next batch of players to be announced by the esteemed football magazine were Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly and Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andre Ter Stegen in equal 24th, with the Tottenham duo of `keeper Hugo Lloris (23) and Son Heung-min (22) next.
In joint 20th place were Arsenal striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Ajax playmaker Dusan Tadic, while Liverpool right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold - who became the youngest player to ever appear in back-to-back Champions League finals earlier this year - completes a wonderful 2019 by coming in in 19th position.
Ballon d`Or No`s 19-11
| 19 - Trent Alexander-Arnold |
| 18 - Antoine Griezmann |
| 17 - Roberto Firmino |
| 16 - Sergio Aguero |
| 15 - Matthijs de Ligt |
| 14 - Kevin de Bruyne |
| 13 - Eden Hazard |
| 12 - Raheem Sterling |
| 11 - Frenkie de Jong |
Meanwhile, Barca`s new forward Antoine Griezmann was 18th, behind another Liverpool star in Roberto Firmino, with Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero, Juventus defender Matthijs de Ligt, City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne, Real playmaker Eden Hazard, City forward Raheem Sterling and Juve midfielder Frenkie De Jong completing positions 30 to 11.
And, after a short delay, France Football then began revealing the top 10, with two City players in the form of playmaker Riyad Mahrez (10) and midfielder Bernardo Silva (9) the first names announced, followed by prolific Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski (8).
All of which leaves Alisson, Sadio Mane, Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk still in the running to be crowned the 2019 Ballon d`Or winner.
