Cristiano Ronaldo, Luka Modric or Mohamed Salah will be awarded the top prize at FIFA's The Best awards after the final shortlists were leaked.
Lionel Messi failed to make it to the final three for the first time since 2006, despite a magnificent season for Barcelona.
Messi was part of the initial long-list of top 10 nominees along with Kevin De Bruyne, Raphael Varane, Antoine Greizmann, Eden Hazard, Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappe.
Modric has already won best player at last week's Champions League awards, which infuriated Ronaldo enough that the Juventus star failed to turn up to the awards.
Midfielder Modric, also part of Madrid's Champions League triumph, finished runner-up with Croatia at the World Cup, winning the best player award at the tournament in Russia.
Ronaldo, who has won the award for the last two years, helped Real Madrid claim a third consecutive Champions League crown before securing a transfer to Juventus.
Egyptian forward Salah scored 44 goals for Liverpool last season, helping the English club reach the Champions League final where they were beaten by Real.
France's World Cup winning captain Hugo Lloris is in contention for the goalkeeper of the year award, alongside Golden Glove winner Thibaut Courtois and Danish shot-stopper Kasper Schmeichel.
Former Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane, France coach Didier Deschamps and Croatia's Zlatko Dalic were on the shortlist for coach of the year award.
The women's player of the year award will be contested between Olympique Lyonnais duo Ada Hegerberg and Dzsenifer Marozsan, who enjoyed an unbeaten league season and lifted the Women's Champions League, and Brazil's triumphant Copa America Femenina captain Marta.
The awards ceremony will take place in London on September 24.
Peter Schmeichel has tipped Luka Modric to win the award at the unveiling of the nominations in London.
“I think we have a new winner this year,' said the Manchester United great. “I think his performances were fantastic. Rightly so he got best player at the World Cup and I fully expect him to win this.”
Here are the full nominess for the FIFA's The Best Awards:
The Best FIFA Men's Player
Cristiano Ronaldo - Juventus
Mohamed Salah - Liverpool
Luka Modric - Real Madrid
The Best FIFA Men's Goalkeeper
Thibaut Courtois – Real Madrid
Hugo Lloris – Tottenham
Kasper Schmeichel – Leicester City
The Best FIFA Men's Coach
Zlatko Dalic – Croatia
Didier Deschamps - France
Zinedine Zidane – Real Madrid
The Best FIFA Women's Coach
Reynald Pedros – France
Asako Takakura - Japan
Sarina Wiegman – Netherlands
FIFA Puskás Award – Goal of the Year
(voting on FIFA.com till September 24)
Gareth Bale – Real Madrid vs Liverpool
Denis Cheryshev – Russia vs Croatia
Lazaros Christodoulopoulos - AEK vs Olympiacos
Giorgian De Arrascaeta - Cruzeiro vs America MG
Riley Magree – Newcastle Jets vs Melbourne City
Lionel Messi – Argentina vs Nigeria
Benjamin Pavard – France vs Argentina
Ricardo Quaresma – Portugal vs Iran
Cristiano Ronaldo - Real Madrid vs Juventus
(With Reuters Inputs)
