We have all become accustomed to football giving us some thrilling moments. From the Champions League to the top leagues all over the word to the FIFA World Cup, 2018 was choke-filled with amazing moments. 

Behind these moments were some of the best players in world football. 

For this End of the Year list, we look at the best 2018 players in the world in each position. 

Alisson Becker (Brazil/AS Roma/ Liverpool)

It was in 2018 that Alisson Becker really came into the limelight after his performances for AS Roma in the Serie A. 

He finished the 2017/2018 season with AS Roma with 17 clean sheets in the league and five in the Champions League as his status grew. 

He represented Brazil at the 2018 FIFA World Cup playing in all of their five games as they got to the quarterfinals. With his status as one of the top goalkeepers in Europe, Liverpool splashed £66.8m.

Indeed it has paid off so far, as Brazilian has remarkable improved Liverpool defensively. 

Thomas Meunier (Belgium/Paris Saint-Germain)

Thomas Meunier found himself to be the first-choice right back at Paris Saint-Germain last season and seized the opportunity to prove that he is one of the best in world football. 

In the 2017/2018 season, he was in top form for Paris Saint-Germain who won every trophy available in France. The Belgian continued his impressive stint at the 2018 World Cup where he helped Belgian to a third-place finish. He scored a goal and assisted two in five appearances in Russia.

Virgil van Dijk (Netherlands/Liverpool) 

In January, Virgil van Dijk became the most expensive defender in the history of football after Liverpool splashed £75m and he has been near-perfect since then. 

He had an instant impact in the Liverpool’s brittle defence that had impeded their progress. With Van Dijk marshalling the defence, Liverpool got the final of the 2018 Champions League last season. This season, Liverpool are the only unbeaten side in the Premier League and have conceded the least goals also in England. 

Van Dijk’s huge influence in defence has not been for Liverpool alone, after missing out on the 2018 FIFA World Cup with the Netherlands, he has been the spine of the Oranje Boys who are making huge progress under new manager Ronald Koeman. With Van Dijk as captain, Netherlands finished above two last World Cup champions in Germany and France to progress in the Nations League table. 

Raphael Varane (France/Real Madrid)

Raphael Varane had a good year with two big trophies. Varene was an important member of the Real Madrid team that won the Champions League for the third consecutive time and also impressed for France in the summer in Russia to help them win the 2018 FIFA World Cup. He was included in the 2018 FIFA FIFPRO World XI. 

Jordi Alba (Spain/Barcelona) 

Jordi Alba can make a claim to be the best Barcelona player in 2018 after Lionel Messi. The Spaniard has been imperious in 2018 and keeps getting better.

He improved remarkably under Ernesto Valverde who has fully maximised the full-back's pace and trickery down the left. Despite an average 2018 FIFA World Cup campaign with Spain, he managed to get his hands on the La Liga title in 2018 with Barcelona. 

N'Golo Kanté (France/Chelsea)

The story of N’Golo Kante’s meteoric rise in football has been well told and in 2018 he conquered more sphere. After an average season with Chelsea, Kante was one of the stars of the France team that won the 2018 FIFA World Cup. 

The ingeniousness of his inconspicuous duties for the team was well heralded by everyone from his teammates to everyone in world football. Outside the pitch, he warmed even more heart with his self-effacing demeanour. 

Luka Modric (Croatia/Real Madrid) 

Public opinion has it that Luka Modric’s ability had not been genuinely heralded but in 2018, it was hard to keep the compliments away. After helping Real Madrid to a third consecutive Champions League title and Croatia’s run to the final of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Modric finally got his accolades. 

He broke the Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo duopoly on the biggest individual prize in world football and was named World Footballer of the Year at FIFA Best and got the Ballon d'Or. 

Kevin de Bruyne (Belgium/Manchester City) 

Kevin de Bruyne was the force behind Manchester City’s historic Premier League title win, providing 16 assists to win the league’s playmaker crown. 

At the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, he was impressive again with two assists and a goal- which he scored in their crucial 2-1 win over Brazil in the quarterfinals. 

Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal/Real Madrid/Juventus) 

Cristiano Ronaldo continues to be one of the best players in world football and not just Europe. In 2018, he was massive again for Real Madrid and Portugal. 

He scored 15 Champions League goals to continue his record of having the most goals in the competition's history and also led Real Madrid to a third consecutive title. 

He played his part for Portugal at the 2018 FIFA World Cup scoring four goals including a hattrick against Spain in a Group Stage game. 

Mohamed Salah (Egypt/Liverpool) 

In one of his best years yet, Mohamed Salah completed his incredible 2017/2018 season with Liverpool top of the goalscoring chart with 44 goals in all competition. 

His incredible debut season in England got him a third-place finish in the vote for the 2018 FIFA Best Player award and sixth in the Ballon d’Or. 

The infamous injury in the Champions League final meant he couldn’t do anything to help Egypt at the 2018 FIFA World Cup. 

He has continued from where he stopped last season although not in the same explosive manner. But he has a couple of goals which have helped Liverpool to get on the top of the Premier League table. 

Lionel Messi (Argentina/Barcelona) 

Lionel Messi has continued to be Lionel Messi, doesn’t need any introduction on what he has done this year. 

His brace over Espanyol over the weekend took his goal tally in this calendar year to 70. 70 goals. There isn’t any better footballer on earth better than the Argentine. 

His failure to spark at the 2018 FIFA World Cup with Argentina and his unsuccessful charge for another Champions League might have stopped him from getting the Ballon d’Or and FIFA Best Player awards from him, but everyone knows who the best is. Messi.