With the shortlist for the Ballon d'Or being released on Monday night, speculation has begun about whether Luka Modric will win his first or whether one of Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi will get a record-sixth. However, there are other contenders and below is The Daily Star's breakdown, featuring the main contenders, some surprising omissions and some interesting trivia.SIX WORLD CHAMPIONS

Six of the men who added a second star to France's emblem in the 2018 World Cup feature in the list with Antoine Griezmann, Kylian Mbappe, N'GoloKante, Paul Pogba and Raphael Varane making up 20 per cent of the list. Could one of them succeed Zinedine Zidane, the last Frenchman to win the prize in 1998?

REAL MADRID DOMINATE

Real Madrid account for more than a quarter of the contenders, featuring more players than any other club. Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema, Thibaut Courtois, Isco, Marcelo, Luka Modric, Sergio Ramos and Varane are the nominees from the 13-time European champions. Liverpool are the second-most-represented club with four nominees while Barcelona and Atletico Madrid have three each.

GERMANY

As a consequence of their World Cup fiasco and perhaps also of the undivided dominance of Bayern in the German Championship, no German player, nor any player from the Bundesliga, has made the list for the first time since 2009.

LA LIGA STILL REIGNS

For the fifth consecutive year, La Liga is the most-represented league among the finalists. The Atletico-Barca-Real trio make up almost half of the nominees, boasting 14 players in the list The Premier League takes a further 11 spots, leaving five spots to be shared among Ligue 1 and Serie A.

NOTABLE ABSENTEES:

PHILIPPE COUTINHO: 29th in 2017 when he was first nominated, Coutinho misses out this year. Although he sparkled with Liverpool last year, the Brazilian joined Barca in winter which meant he missed the biggest Champions League matches. And despite bagging two goals in the group stages of the World Cup, he failed to rise to the occasion thereafter. GIANLUIGI BUFFON: Out for good? At 40, Buffon disappears from the nominees. Fourth in 2017, the Italian had been less impressive with Juve during the first six months of the year. Absent from the World Cup, he then joined PSG where he plays much less.

GIORGIO CHIELLINI: Also absent from the World Cup, his Juventus side exited in the quarterfinals of the Champions League. And despite winning Serie A, the captain of the Old Lady finds no place on the list.

DAVID DE GEA: Regarded by most as the best goalkeeper in the world since Manuel Neuer went down to injury, the Manchester United goalkeeper endured a terrible World Cup with Spain which has seen his stock dip considerably.

PAULO DYBALA: 20th in 2016 and 15th in 2017, Dybala would have been hoping to crack the top 10 this time around.

However, he finds himself off the list. A lacklustre Champions League campaign coupled with a World Cup spent largely on the bench must have contributed heavily to the decision.