Premier League champions Manchester City were drawn on Thursday with Juventus, Wydad AC and Al Ain in Group G for next year's FIFA Club World Cup in the United States.
Lionel Messi does not deserve to win the next FIFA Ballon d'Or as he has only won one minor trophy this year, his former Barcelona team mate Zlatan Ibrahimovic said on Tuesday.
Cristiano Ronaldo was awarded the Ballon d'Or for world player of the year on Thursday for a joint-record fifth time, going level with eternal rival and Barcelona forward Lionel Messi as the player to have won the prize the most times.
Manchester United and Portugal winger Cristiano Ronaldo was awarded the 2008 Ballon d'Or, French magazine France Football said on its website (http://www.francefootball.fr ) Tuesday.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi will resume their perennial battle to be crowned the world's best footballer after they headed the shortlist of 30 players for the 2016 Ballon d'Or announced on Monday.
AC Milan's Brazil playmaker Kaka has won the 2007 Ballon D'Or, the former European Footballer of the Year award now extended to players in other countries around world, Italian media reported on Saturday.
Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri believes Cristiano Ronaldo deserves to win the Ballon D'Or, following media reports that the forward has not been short-listed for the award's final three for the first time since 2010.
Barcelona's Xavi, Lionel Messi and Andres Iniesta are on the shortlist for the first FIFA Ballon D'Or award for the best player in the world to be presented on Monday at a ceremony that gets bigger by the year.
Factbox on Argentina and Barcelona forward Lionel Messi who won the Ballon d'Or for world player of the year for an unprecedented fourth successive time on Monday.
France football legend Thierry Henry, who's on his maiden visit to India, has put Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo among the top contenders to win this year's Ballon d'Or trophy.
Factbox on the Real Madrid and Portugal forward who was voted FIFA Player of the Year on Monday.
Cristiano Ronaldo's sister failed to see the funny side after Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk joked that the Portuguese forward is "not really a rival" in the Ballon D'Or award voting.
AC Milan and Brazil playmaker Kaka was awarded the 2007 Ballon d'Or on Sunday.
Salah's strikes brought him to a remarkable 43 goals in all competitions this season, keeping him at the front of the list of top scorers in Europe
After picking fifth Ballon d'Or, Ronaldo's reignites eternal debate
Should the Portugal forward triumph, he will equal the record of his great rival and five-time winner Lionel Messi of Barcelona, who is also nominated.
Last year's winner Cristiano Ronaldo and Argentina's Lionel Messi were among the 30 players on the 2009 Ballon d'Or award shortlist released on Sunday but Italian and German players were conspicuous by their absence.
Lionel Messi is on course for a record-equalling third consecutive Ballon d'Or, soccer's highest individual award, after the Argentine forward was among the three shortlisted nominees named on Monday.
A major surprise in the 2024 Google search trends was the absence of iconic names like Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, M S Dhoni, and Virat Kohli from the list of the top 10 most-searched athletes.
Real Madrid star striker Cristiano Ronaldo, who defeated Barcelona star Lionel Messi to clinch the Ballon d'or award for the fourth time, has said the victory celebrations have been tarnished by allegations of tax fraud. Ronaldo, who lifted the coveted award after inspiring Zinedine Zidane's side to the Champions League glory and Portugal to the European Championship 2016 trophy, said the allegations have been hard to bear for himself and his loved ones and also "partly spoiled the pleasure" of winning the coveted award.
Football's world governing body FIFA named Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Franck Ribery as the three nominations from a 10-player shortlist for the Ballon d'Or award on Monday.
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo will go head-to-head once again for the title of world's best footballer after being short-listed along with Neymar on Monday for the 2015 FIFA Ballon d'Or.
Cristiano Ronaldo topped Forbes magazine's list of highest-paid athletes for the fourth time in his career.
Barcelona's Lionel Messi, Bayern Munich's Franck Ribery and Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo are the three final contenders for the 2013 Ballon d'Or award.
Salvatore Schillaci, who was born in the Sicilian city of Palermo and was hospitalised there, suffered from colon cancer.
Chhetri will make his final appearance for India on the international stage when he takes the field in the FIFA World Cup Qualifying clash against Kuwait
Lionel Messi reclaimed the FIFA Ballon d'Or award for the world player of the year on Monday from his great rival Cristiano Ronaldo who had walked off with the award for the previous two years.
Legendary footballer Cristiano Ronaldo had a stupendous 2023 as he ended the year as the world's top goal-scorer. Following the landmark, the Portuguese superstar said that he will try to achieve it again next year.
Miami are set to take on Al-Hilal at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh on January 29 before facing Al-Nassr at the same venue on February 1.
Inter Milan president Massimo Moratti is stunned that striker Diego Milito was not included in the 23-man shortlist for the new FIFA Ballon d'Or.
Argentina won a record 16th Copa America title by beating Colombia 1-0 thanks to an extra-time goal from substitute Lautaro Martinez.
It would be a crime if Cristiano Ronaldo lost out to Lionel Messi for the 2012 Ballon d'Or, his Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho said.
The Portuguese superstar now has scored the most first-division goals in football history, he has 527 career league goals with 61 goals alone in 2023.
Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard has criticised what he called FIFA's political decision not to include former team mate Luis Suarez on their shortlist for this year's Ballon d'Or award as the world's best footballer.
Spain's World Cup winners Xavi and Andres Iniesta were joined by holder Lionel Messi on an all-Barcelona shortlist for the FIFA Ballon d'Or announced on Monday.
Lionel Messi celebrated a second successive World Player of the Year award with a hat-trick as Barcelona thrashed second division Real Betis 5-0 in a King's Cup quarter-final first leg on Wednesday.
The FIFA Ballon D'Or award has become a painful reminder of the sorry state Italian football, Juventus and Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon said.
So, who in your opinion, dear readers, is your favourite to win the prestigious prize at the ceremony in Zurich on January 12? Take your pick and vote now!
The list of candidates to win the 2009 Ballon d'Or award was reduced to 10 men on Sunday, with Barcelona and Argentina forward Lionel Messi the overwhelming favourite.
Mbappe says playing for Real Madrid will complete childhood dream
