Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are once again the favourites to win the Ballon d'Or after the 23-man shortlist for the prize was revealed on Tuesday.
The award, which is ultimately decided by the captains and head
coaches of national teams as well as media representatives, will be
presented to the player considered to be the best performer in the
calendar year.
Ronaldo has been named the world's best player twice in as many
years, though Messi will provide stern competition this time around
having inspired Barcelona's treble-winning campaign last term
The pair will battle it out again to be crowned the world's best player,
having won the prize seven times between them in as many years
23-man shortlist in full:
Sergio Aguero (Manchester City/Argentina)
Gareth Bale (Real Madrid/Wales)
Karim Benzema (Real Madrid/France)
Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City/Belgium)
Eden Hazard (Chelsea/Belgium)
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Paris Saint-Germain/Sweden)
Andres Iniesta (Barcelona/Spain)
Toni Kroos (Real Madrid/Germany)
Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich/Poland)
Javier Mascherano (Barcelona/Argentina)
Lionel Messi (Barcelona/Argentina)
Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich/Germany)
Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich/Germany)
Neymar (Barcelona/Brazil)
Paul Pogba (Juventus/France)
Ivan Rakitic (Barcelona/Croatia)
Arjen Robben (Bayern Munich/Netherlands)
James Rodriguez (Real Madrid/Colombia)
Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid/Portugal)
Alexis Sanchez (Arsenal/Chile)
Luis Suarez (Barcelona/Uruguay)
Yaya Toure (Manchester City/Ivory Coast)
Arturo Vidal (Bayern Munich/Chile)