Sports: 2017 Ballon d'Or shortlist

Tottenham striker Harry Kane has been named among the first half of nominees for the Ballon d'Or 2017, France Football has revealed.

The prestigious award, which was aligned with FIFA from 2010 to 2015, has been won by either Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi for the past nine years.

Ronaldo picked up his fourth Ballon d'Or last year to move one behind Messi, and the Portugal and Real Madrid forward is odds-on favourite to make it five this time around.

France Football has opted to stagger out the nominees throughout Monday, with Kane one of five Premier League players to be announced on the shortlist so far.

Liverpool midfielder Philippe Coutinho also features, as does Chelsea's N'Golo Kante, Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea and Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne.

Paris Saint-Germain's Neymar, Real Madrid trio Sergio Ramos, Marcelo and Luka Modric, and Barcelona striker Luis Suarez have also made the
list of 30.

The Ballon d'Or is judged solely by a panel of journalists after FIFA and France Football ended their partnership in 2015.

In September, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Neymar were nominated as finalists for the Best FIFA Men's Player award.

Ballon d'Or 2017 shortlist so far

Philippe Coutinho (Liverpool)
Kevin De Bruyne (Man City)
David de Gea (Man Utd)
Paulo Dybala (Juventus)
Edin Dzeko (Roma)
Harry Kane (Tottenham)
N'Golo Kante (Chelsea)
Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
Marcelo (Real Madrid)
Dries Mertens (Napoli)
Luka Modric (Real Madrid)
Neymar (PSG)
Jan Oblak (Atletico Madrid)
Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid)
Luis Suarez (Barcelona)