Paris Saint-Germain forward Kylian Mbappe is still in contention to become the first double Golden Boy winner as the list for the award was cut from 80 to 60.
The Golden Boy award has been handed out annually since 2003, when Rafael van der Vaart claimed the inaugural prize. Winners since have included Messi, Cesc Fabregas, Sergio Aguero, Paul Pogba and Isco. Wayne Rooney and Raheem Sterling are the only Englishmen to receive the gong.
Mbappe won the award in 2017 and is a strong contender to retain it following a season which culminated in him being named the World Cup's best young player after helping France win the tournament.
United States internationals Christian Pulisic and Timothy Weah are also in contention,despite Weah not being included in the original 80. He is included after making an impressive start to the campaign at Paris Saint-Germain.
There are three English players who are still included, with Liverpool's Trent Alexander-Arnold, Everton's Thomas Davies and Manchester City's Phil Foden in the final 60.
But Martin Odegaard, the Real Madrid prodigy on loan at Vitesse Arnhem, is among those who failed to make the cut. Manchester United prospect Angel Gomes as well as Reece Oxford also missed out.
The full list:
Carles Alena (Barcelona)
Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool)
Kelvin Adou Amian (Toulouse)
Houssem Aouar (Lyon)
Musa Barrow (Atalanta)
Sander Gard Bolin Berge (Genk)
Justin Bijlow (Feyenoord)
Abdelkader Brahim Diaz (Manchester City)
Josip Brekalo (Wolfsburg)
Patrick Cutrone (AC Milan)
Dani Olmo (Dinamo Zagreb)
Thomas Davies (Everton)
Mattijs de Ligt (Ajax)
Moussa Diaby (PSG)
Diogo Dalot (Manchester United)
Moussa Djenepo (Standard Liege)
Ritsu Doan (Groningen)
Eder Militao (Porto)
Odsonne Edouard (Celtic)
Evander (Midtjylland)
Phil Foden (Manchester City)
Juan Foyth (Tottenham)
Gedson Fernandes (Benfica)
Nicolas Gonzalez (Stuttgart)
Achraf (Borussia Dortmund)
Amadou Haidara (Red Bull Salzburg)
Kai Havertz (Bayer Leverkusen)
Jonathan Ikone (Lille)
Joao Filipe (Benfica)
Jovan Cabral (Sporting Club)
Dejan Joveljic (Red Star)
Boubacar Kamara (Marseille)
Yann Karamoh (Bordeaux)
Moise Kean (Juventus)
Jules Keita (Dijon)
Justin Kluivert (Roma)
Teun Koopmeiners (AZ Alkmaar)
Alban Lafont (Fiorentina)
Leo Jaba (PAOK)
Mikhail Lysov (Lokomotiv Moscow)
Jean-Victor Makengo (Nice)
Manu Garcia (Toulouse)
Mauro Junior (PSV Eindhoven)
Kylian Mbappe (PSG)
Weston McKennie (Schalke)
Evan N'Dicka (Eintracht Frankfurt)
Pietro Pellegri (Monaco)
Ronael Pierre-Gabriel (Monaco)
Christian Pulisic (Borussia Dortmund)
Ruben Vinagre (Wolves)
Marcelo Saracchi (RB Leipzig)
Ismaila Sarr (Rennes)
Ryan Sessegnon (Fulham)
Anthony Moya Vega (Atletico Madrid)
Dayot Upamecano (RB Leipzig)
Federico Valverde (Real Madrid)
Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid)
Moussa Wague (Barcelona)
Timothy Weah (PSG)
Luca Zidane (Real Madrid)