On the back of his £99 million ($121 million/€109 million) move from Real Madrid in July 2018, Ronaldo scored 21 Serie A goals as Juventus claimed an eighth consecutive domestic league title.

Ronaldo also helped Portugal to the UEFA Nations League Finals, where, as hosts, his country were crowned champions of the inaugural edition.

Argentina legend Messi, meanwhile, secured the European Golden Shoe as the continent's top goalscorer.

He scored 36 goals in La Liga as Barcelona cruised to their 26th title.

The 10-man shortlist also includes Dutch pair Matthijs de Ligt and Frenkie De Jong after they played an influential role in Ajax reaching the UEFA Champions League semi-finals.

Compatriot Virgil van Dijk is one of three representatives of Liverpool, winners of the UEFA Champions League.

He is joined by Egypt’s Mohamed Salah and Senegal’s Sadio Mané, while the team Liverpool beat in the final, Tottenham Hotspur, are represented by English forward Harry Kane.

Belgium’s Eden Hazard and France’s Kylian Mbappé complete the shortlist compiled by a panel of experts.

Another panel of experts named the candidates for the Best FIFA Women’s Player, with Megan Rapinoe and fellow United States women’s national team stars Alex Morgan, Julie Ertz and Rose Lavelle included on the 12-player list.

Rapinoe helped lead the US to victory at the recently-concluded FIFA Women’s World Cup in France, winning the Golden Ball as the best player and the Golden Boot as the top goalscorer.

England, who lost to the US in the World Cup semi-finals, are represented by Lucy Bronze and Ellen White.

The list is rounded off by Norwegians Caroline Graham Hansen and reigning Ballon d’Or winner Ada Hegerberg, Frenchwomen Amandine Henry and Wendie Renard, Australia’s star striker Sam Kerr and The Netherlands' Vivianne Miedema.

Among the Best FIFA Men’s Coach nominees are three Argentineans – River Plate’s Marcelo Gallardo, Tottenham Hotspur’s Mauricio Pochettino and the Peruvian national team’s Ricardo Gareca.

Others include Portugal coach Fernando Santos, Brazil manager Tite, who led his side to the Copa América title, and Africa Cup of Nations winner Djamel Belmadi of Algeria.

The list is completed by France coach Didier Deschamps, Spain’s Pep Guardiola of Manchester City, Germany’s Jürgen Klopp of Liverpool and The Netherlands' Erik ten Hag of Ajax.

US women's national team coach Jill Ellis, who led her side to their fourth World Cup title earlier this month, heads the list of nominees for the Best FIFA Women’s Coach.

She is joined by Olympique Lyonnais' treble-winning coach Reynald Pedros as well as Sarina Wiegman, who led The Netherlands to their first-ever World Cup final, and Australia’s Joe Montemurro, who guided Arsenal to the Football Association Women's Super League title.

Phil Neville, who coached England to a fourth-place finish at the World Cup, is also nominated along with fellow Englishman Paul Riley, manager of National Women's Soccer League side North Carolina Courage in the US. 

Milena Bertolini and Peter Gerhardsson, the managers of the Italy and Sweden national teams respectively, are among the other contenders, along with Japan’s under-20 national team coach Futoshi Ikeda and Spain’s under-17 national team manager Antonia Is.

Public voting is already open on FIFA.com and is due to run until August 19.

FIFA is scheduled to announce the three finalists for each of the four categories - as well as for the FIFA Puskás Award, the FIFA Fan Award and the Best FIFA Goalkeeper awards for both men and women - in early September.

The trophies are due to be presented at the Best FIFA Football Awards ceremony at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan on September 23.