Bryan Mbeumo hit new heights in the 2024-25 league season, finishing with 20 goals to help Brentford to a solid 10th-place finish.
Erling Haaland arrived at Manchester City nearly a year ago to questions about how a "battering ram" of a centre-forward would fit into mastermind manager Pep Guardiola's nuanced and tactically demanding style.
Norway last qualified for the World Cup in 1998.
Midfielder Phil Foden delivered in dramatic fashion, scoring in the first and 91st minutes, to seal Manchester City's 3-2 victory over Leeds United.
Manchester City seized the opportunity of Arsenal's 2-1 loss at Aston Villa earlier in the day to climb within two points of the leaders.
Cash on target as Villa hand Man City their first defeat since August
Now, with Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo venturing into smaller leagues as they near the end of their brilliant careers, 2024 may finally be the year for the next in line in football royalty.
Haaland now has an astonishing 42 goals for City since joining from Borussia Dortmund last June.
Jude Bellingham topped the men's overall voting, with the Real Madrid and England midfielder receiving 11,176 selections from his peers.
Arsenal moved to 50 points from 24 games.
A summary of Saturday's action in the English Premier League.
Haaland slotted his side in front after four minutes.
Brighton & Hove Albion and Nottingham Forest maintained unbeaten starts to the Premier League season with a topsy-turvy 2-2 draw as the visitors finished with 10 men and both managers were shown red cards in a feisty clash on Sunday.
Haaland effectively put the game to bed early in the second half with a simple finish, before taking his league tally to 20 for the season in the 64th minute.
Erling Haaland had the same points as Lionel Messi but lost out by having fewer first-place votes from national team captains.
After Saturday's 2-1 win at Chelsea - their 12th in 13 league matches - Aston Villa have claimed 18 points from losing positions so far this season, more than any other team.
Goals from Pedro Neto and Enzo Fernandez earned Chelsea a 2-0 victory at lowly Burnley on Saturday, a win that moved the Blues within three points of Premier League leaders Arsenal.
Fresh off a dominant title-winning campaign, Liverpool kick off the new Premier League season on Friday as the team to beat, as the Reds have transitioned from Juergen Klopp's high-octane chaos to a more measured possession-based style under Arne Slot.
Italy face the shocking possibility of failing to reach the World Cup for a third consecutive time.
Liverpool reclaimed top spot in the Premier League with a 3-1 win over Burnley at Anfield on Saturday, but they were made to battle hard by a brave visiting side.
Seven times reigning winner Lionel Messi was not nominated for this year's Ballon d'Or for the first time since 2005 and nor was his Paris Saint-Germain team mate Neymar.
'It's alleged that, during the 94th minute of the fixture, the club failed to ensure their players do not behave in way which is improper.'
IMAGES from the Premier League matches played on Saturday
Indian club East Bengal produced an utterly dominant show to crush Bangladesh's Bashundhara Kings 4-0 in their AFC Challenge League match in Thimphu on Tuesday.
Manchester City maintained their pressure on Arsenal with a 2-0 win over Newcastle United in their Premier League match on Saturday.
Erling Haaland and Phil Foden scored hat-tricks to fire champions Manchester City to a rampant 6-3 thrashing of local rivals Manchester United in the English Premier League on Sunday.
Wright blasts Man City's Haaland for throwing ball at Arsenal's Gabriel
It took 10 Premier League games for the first cracks to appear in Manchester City's facade last season, but Pep Guardiola got a much earlier reminder of his side's fall from grace on Saturday in another defeat to Tottenham Hotspur.
Players were in tears after Rodri's emphatic second-half goal against Inter Milan in the final secured a 1-0 victory
Liverpool strolled to a 2-0 victory over Brentford, while Newcastle drew 1-1 at Bournemouth.
Manchester City and Chelsea both secured their Champions League places with victories on the final day of the English Premier League season and Newcastle United joined them despite stumbling to a last-day defeat.
A round-up of Wednesday's action in the Premier League
Manchester City's Erling Haaland faces Borussia Dortmund and Barcelona's Robert Lewandowski meets Bayern Munich after the Champions League group-stage draw was made on Thursday.
Liverpool's Dominik Szoboszlai struck the first telling blow in the Premier League title race with a dazzling free kick late on giving his side a 1-0 victory over rivals Arsenal.
IMAGES from the European Qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Key stats from Liverpool's season after they won their second Premier League title on Sunday and a record-equalling 20th English top-flight title...
With 12 games remaining Manchester City are in fourth place with 44 points, just five ahead of 10th-placed Fulham.
A round-up of Tuesday's action in the UEFA Champions League.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Saudi Arabia's Al-Hilal stunned Manchester City 4-3 in extra-time in Orlando on Monday to pull off one of the shocks of the Club World Cup.
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