The Paris Saint-Germain star enjoyed a great season, scoring 41 goals and providing 10 assists for the French giants, as well as reaching the World Cup final with France – where he scored a hat-trick.
Unfortunately for him it wasn’t enough to reach the final top three nominees for UEFA’s top award
Lionel Messi made the cut after scoring 30 goals and providing 21 assists in all competitions for PSG last term, while also inspiring Argentina to World Cup glory before heading to Inter Miami.
Manchester City provided the two other finalists, with Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne rounding off the trio of nominees following their treble-winning heroics with Pep Guardiola’s side.
While City duo Ilkay Gundogan and Rodri missed out on the top three, they did pick up enough votes from a panel of European coaches to be ranked fourth and fifth on the list.
Mbappe was sixth, followed Croatia duo Luka Modric, Marcelo Brozovic.
Then came Declan Rice, who won the Europa Conference League with West Ham before joining Arsenal for £105million. Alexis Mac Allister, rounded out the top 10 as a World Cup winner and new Liverpool recruit.
A notable omission from the list was Real Madrid stars Karim Benzema and Vinicius Jr.
Los Blancos finished second in La Liga and reached the semi-finals of the Champions League with Benzema getting 31 goals before leaving to join Al Ittihad in Saudi Arabia.
Meanwhile Vini Jr scored 23 goals and got 21 assists as the 23-year-old again proved himself as one of the most exciting talents in world football, even if he wasn’t recognised on UEFA’s list.
The winner of the award, currently held by Benzema, will be announced on Thursday 31 August at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco.
Should Haaland or De Bruyne win it would be the first victory for a Man City player, while Messi could take his first crown since 2015 and equal rival Cristiano Ronaldo on three wins.
