Luka Modric Will Present The Golden Ball To The Ballon d'Or Winner Tonight

Luka Modric is poised to hand over the Golden Ball to the 2019 Ballon d'Or winner at tonight's ceremony in Paris.

The Croatian ended Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo's 10-year dominance of individual awards last year after winning a third Champions League in a row with Real Madrid before captaining his country to the World Cup final in Russia.

This year, however, the former Spurs man is not even on the 30-man shortlist - becoming the first player in history to win the prize and not even make the cut the following year.

Image: PA

Instead, as per Miguel Angel Diaz from COPE, Modric will be presenting the award at the gala - where Messi is poised to claim a record-breaking sixth Ballon d'Or after going three years without winning the trophy.

Like with the UEFA Men's Player of the Year, Virgil van Dijk and Cristiano Ronaldo are also among the nominees for the award.

Modric is also set to become the 17th recipient of the Golden Foot award - given to the best performing players over the age of 29.

Now 34, the Real Madrid is to be honoured for his achievements within the game and joins an esteemed list of past winners.

Ronaldo Nazário, Ronaldinho, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Pavel Nedved, Alessandro Del Piero, Roberto Baggio, Ryan Giggs and Didier Drogba are just some of the legends to have won the coveted award.

Topics: Football News, Football, Lionel Messi, Ballon d'Or, Virgil Van Dijk, Luka Modric

Josh Lawless

Josh is a sports journalist who specialises in football and wrestling. He has been published by Curzon Ashton FC, Late Tackle, Manchester City FC, The Mirror, Read Man City and Manchester Evening News. He provides coverage of professional wrestling and has interviewed some of the biggest names in the field - including the first UK interview with The Hardy Boyz after their return to WWE. He has never sported a pair of Lonsdale Slip-ons, contrary to reports.

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