Jude Bellingham converted a penalty and Kylian Mbappe added another goal before halftime to spur Real Madrid to a 2-0 victory over Getafe.
Real Madrid hit their stride at the Club World Cup on Tuesday, edging Juventus 1-0 to reach the quarter-finals thanks to a second-half strike from academy graduate Gonzalo Garcia.
This is the first time a player other than Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo has topped the list in eight years.
Voting for the eighth annual awards opened on Thursday on FIFA.com and closes in mid-October. National team coaches, captains, journalists and fans make up the list of voters.
Barcelona boss Hansi Flick lavished praise on Lamine Yamal after he scored a brilliant goal to spearhead his side's recovery from a two-goal deficit in a thrilling 3-3 draw with Inter Milan in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final on Wednesday.
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.
A round-up of Wednesday's Champions League quarter-final second leg between Real Madrid and Arsenal, Inter Milan and Bayern Munich.
Images from the Euro 2024 semi-final between Spain and France, at Munich Football Arena, Germany, on Tuesday.
The Qatari-owned French club have never won the Champions League despite massive spending down the years on the likes of Kylian Mbappe and South American duo Lionel Messi and Neymar.
Barcelona wasted a golden opportunity to extend their lead at the top of LaLiga as they were shocked 1-0 at lowly Almeria on Sunday thanks to a first-half strike by El Bilal Toure.
Paris St Germain closed out the year on a high as they maintained their five-point advantage at the top of the table.
The number of assists is used as a tiebreaker to separate players who are level on goals scored. If they are tied on both counts, the winner is decided by who played the fewest minutes.
France coach Didier Deschamps hailed young striker Kylian Mbappe for his decisive contribution in the 1-0 victory over Peru in Yekaterinburg that enabled them to progress from Group C into the last 16 of the World Cup on Thursday.
IMAGES from the UEFA Champions League matches played on Wednesday
The 19-year-old ravaged Argentina from start to finish in France's thrilling 4-3 win in Kazan
Real Madrid's Intercontinental Cup triumph marked a remarkable milestone for Carlo Ancelotti on Wednesday as the Italian became the manager with the most titles in the club's history with a total of 15 trophies.
'We pushed and we believed until the end. We almost turned the game around, which was not going well... There was mental strength in this group, a lot of heart. That allowed us to come back in this game. We're disappointed but also proud.'
IMAGES from football matches played across European Leagues on Saturday.
PSG will need to rely on their attack against the team they knocked out in the semi-finals last season.
PSG's focus on unity, tactical discipline and collective effort has drawn widespread plaudits ahead of their showdown with Inter Milan, who eliminated Barcelona after a thrilling semi-final.
Atalanta, who had a fairtytale run, making it to the quarter-finals of Europe's top club competition, were looking good to progress when Mario Pasalic scored the opening goal in the 26th minute to hand the Italians a one-goal lead.
Angel Di Maria unleashed a stunning long-range strike in the 41st minute to draw Argentina level at 1-1 against France at halftime of their round of 16 World Cup clash on Saturday.
Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the emir of Qatar and PSG's owner, was a happy man as he enveloped PSG players Messi, Mbappe and Angel Di Maria with a warm hug.
Borussia Dortmund showed great composure to reach their third Champions League final after Mats Hummels' second-half goal earned the visitors a 1-0 victory against misfiring Paris St Germain for a deserved 2-0 aggregate win on Tuesday.
Kylian Mbappe is now expected to be paired with his favoured attacking partner in Olivier Giroud.
A round-up of Friday's action in the UEFA Nations League.
Uruguay will seek to summon up all their famous defensive spirit in Friday's quarter-final against France to shackle the Europeans' lighting-fast teenage top-scorer Kylian Mbappe.
Images from the Champions League semi-final first leg between Arsenal and Paris St Germain at Emirates Stadium, London, on Tuesday.
The 50-year-old lavished praise on French forward Kylian Mbappe, who scored four goals in the summit clash but still ended on the losing side.
Real Madrid fight back to beat Mallorca and put Barca party on hold
Real outclass Majorca, to meet Barca in Super Cup final
Villarreal fought back to shock Barcelona 3-2 on Sunday, handing the LaLiga champions their first league defeat since late December.
A round-up of Saturday's action in LaLiga, Ligue 1, Serie A and Bundesliga.
Barcelona came from an early goal down to beat Real Madrid 5-2 in the Spanish Super Cup final on Sunday
Neymar and Mbappe satins are Paris fashion must-haves.
'Historically, Qatar has done wonders as I don't think this will ever be possible with the new format of the World Cup.'
France's national soccer team returned from Qatar to the acclaim of huge crowds in Paris on Monday, after their heroic defeat to Argentina in the World Cup final.
Back in his hometown of Bondy, on the gritty northeast outskirts of Paris, there is immense pride at his exploits, but not that much surprise -- they always knew he'd make it big.
'We were happy with the win because we played a great game until the 88th minute, when two lapses in concentration led to two goals and we had to suffer a bit more than we should have.'
Roundup of the matches being held across major football leagues in Europe
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