The race to dethrone Cristiano Ronaldo is officially on.
The nominees for the 2017 Ballon d'Or are being released in chunks Monday, with award organiser France Football revealing the 30-man shortlist in five-player installments.
Lionel Messi is the prime candidate to overthrow Ronaldo. The only player to ever win the award five times, the elusive Argentine has already scored 14 goals across all competitions this season.
Paris Saint-Germain focal point Neymar, among the first superstars named on the list, will also fancy his chances after settling into French football nicely.
Robert Lewandowski, David De Gea, Harry Kane, Kevin De Bruyne, and Antoine Griezmann were unveiled alongside Neymar as top contenders for the coveted golden trophy.
Coming off the most prolific year of his career, PSG striker Edinson Cavani received a nod, as did counterpart Radamel Falcao for his role in AS Monaco's march to the Ligue 1 title.
Ronaldo remains the favourite to claim the prize for a record-equalling fifth time following a double-winning campaign withReal Madrid.
His sluggish start to the season, however, gives Messi fresh hope.
The two men have combined to win world football's most prestigious individual honour in each of the past nine years. Ronaldo's sure to be named as a finalist later in the day.
Here are the 25 nominees who've been revealed thus far:
Neymar (PSG), Luka Modric (Real Madrid),Paulo Dybala (Juventus), Marcelo (Real Madrid), N'Golo Kante (Chelsea), Luis Suarez(Barcelona), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid),Philippe Coutinho (Liverpool), Jan Oblak(Atletico Madrid), Dries Mertens (Napoli),Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City), Harry Kane (Tottenham), Robert Lewandowski(Bayern Munich), David De Gea (Manchester United), Edin Dzeko (Roma), Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid), Toni Kroos(Real Madrid), Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus),Sadio Mane (Liverpool), Radamel Falcao (AS Monaco), Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Borussia Dortmund),Edinson Cavani (Paris Saint-Germain), Mats Hummels (Bayern Munich), Karim Benzema(Real Madrid).
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