The French international has had an incredible season for Real Madrid, scoring 44 goals in 46 games and helping them win the Champions League and LaLiga.
Seven times reigning winner Lionel Messi was not nominated for this year's Ballon d'Or for the first time since 2005 and or was his Paris Saint-Germain team mate Neymar.
Other nominees are Manchester United forward Cristiano Ronaldo, Manchester City striker Erling Haaland - who has just joined the club from Borussia Dortmund - and last season's joint Premier League top scorer Mohamed Salah of Liverpool.
Among the 20 players on the shortlist for the women's Ballon d'Or is Lyon's Ada Hegerberg, who won the inaugural award in 2018, and Barcelona's Alexia Putellas.
Arsenal striker Beth Mead, who won the European Championship with hosts England last month and was named the Player of the tournament, is also nominated.
The honour for the best player in the world will be presented on October 17th. The trophy will now be awarded based on a regular season from August to July rather than a calendar year.
Ballon d'Or full nomination list (men's): Karim Benzema (Real Madrid), Robert Lewandowski (Barcelona), Kylian Mbappe (PSG), Sadio Mane (Bayern Munich), Mo Salah (Liverpool), Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City), Christopher Nkunku (RB Leipzig), Rafael Leao (Milan), Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid), Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich), Luis Diaz (Liverpool), Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid), Bernardo Silva (Manchester City), Riyad Mahrez (Manchester City), Casemiro (Real Madrid), Heung-Min Son (Tottenham Hotspur), Fabinho (Liverpool), Virgil van Djik (Liverpool), Mike Maignan (Milan), Phil Foden (Manchester City), Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur), Darwin Nunez (Liverpool), Antonio Rudiger (Real Madrid), Sebastien Haller (Dortmund), Luka Modric (Real Madrid), Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United), Dusan Vlahovic (Juventus), Erling Haaland (Manchester City), Joao Cancelo (Manchester City), Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool).
Ballon d'Or full nomination list (women's): Selma Bacha (Lyon), Fridolina Rolfo (Barcelona), Vivianne Miedema (Arsenal), Lucy Bronze (Barcelona), Sam Kerr (Chelsea), Christiane Endler (Lyon), Lena Oberdorf (Wolfsburg), Kadidiatou Diani (PSG), Catarina Macario (Lyon), Alexia Putellas (Barcelona), Alexandra Popp (Wolfsburg), Aitana Bonmati (Barcelona), Wendie Renard (Lyon), Alex Morgan (San Diego Wave), Beth Mead (Arsenal), Marie-Antoinette Katoto (PSG), Millie Bright (Chelsea), Trinity Rodman (Washington Spirit) and Ada Hegerberg (Lyon).
