Five sports are the favorites to win the Golden Ball award for the best footballer in the world 2019, led by Liverpool trio (Virgil van Dyke Mohammed Salah and Alison Baker) and includes Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

The Egyptian star spent a brief period at the Premier League in Chelsea but was not as successful as Fiorentina and Roma before joining Liverpool in the summer of 2017, the network said in a report on its website on Friday.

Since then, Salah has scored 81 goals in 78 Premier League appearances and has won the Premier League Golden Boot for two consecutive years, as well as winning the Champions League and European Super Cups this year.

Dutch defender Van Dyke is the closest winner to the Golden Ball, more than a decade after the Italian defender Fabio Cannavaro won the prize. Dodgy including Ronaldo, Messi and Belgian Eden Hazard.

Among the contenders for the award are Liverpool goalkeeper Alison Becker, crowned European Cup and Super Cup winners with the Reds and Copa America with Brazil, and winner of the continent's best goalkeeper of the year.

According to the network, the Portuguese star Ronaldo is also among the most prominent candidates after winning Serie A "with Juventus and the title of the European Championship in its first version with his country.

Messi, who has won the La Liga title with Barcelona, ​​is also competing especially hard after winning the Golden Boot with 36 goals in La Liga and 15 in the Champions League and King's Cup.