Four time winner Lionel Messi and three time winner and defending champion, Cristiano Ronaldo; lead the 23 man shortlist for the 2015 world footballer of the year award.
The list, compiled by football experts from the FIFA Football Committee and a group of experts from France Football; would be voted on by the coaches and captains of each of of FIFA’s member countries, as well as carefully selected football journalists chosen by France Football.
Ivory Coast’s Yaya Toure, the four time African footballer of the year; is the only African on the shortlist. Champions league winners Barcelona have the most players on the list, with five others joining the runaway favourite for the award- Leo Messi.
The voting period for the awards commences on 26 October 2015 and closes on 20 November 2015 (midnight CET). The awards would be held in Zurich on 11 January, 2016.
The following 23 players (in alphabetical order) are in contention for the FIFA Ballon d’Or 2015:
Sergio Agüero (Argentina/Manchester City), Gareth Bale (Wales/Real Madrid), Karim Benzema (France/Real Madrid), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal/Real Madrid), Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium/VfL Wolfsburg/Manchester City), Eden Hazard (Belgium/Chelsea), Zlatan Ibrahimović (Sweden/Paris Saint-Germain), Andrés Iniesta (Spain/FC Barcelona), Toni Kroos (Germany/Real Madrid), Robert Lewandowski (Poland/FC Bayern Munich), Javier Mascherano (Argentina/FC Barcelona), Lionel Messi (Argentina/FC Barcelona), Thomas Müller (Germany/FC Bayern Munich), Manuel Neuer (Germany/FC Bayern Munich), Neymar (Brazil/FC Barcelona), Paul Pogba (France/Juventus), Ivan Rakitić (Croatia/FC Barcelona), Arjen Robben (Netherlands/FC Bayern Munich), James Rodríguez (Colombia/Real Madrid), Alexis Sánchez (Chile/Arsenal), Luis Suárez (Uruguay/FC Barcelona), Yaya Touré (Côte d’Ivoire/Manchester City), Arturo Vidal (Chile/Juventus/FC Bayern Munich).
The following ten coaches (in alphabetical order) are in contention for the FIFA World Coach of the Year for Men’s Football 2015:
Massimiliano Allegri (Italy/Juventus), Carlo Ancelotti (Italy/Real Madrid), Laurent Blanc (France/Paris Saint-Germain), Unai Emery (Spain/Sevilla FC), Pep Guardiola (Spain/FC Bayern Munich), Luis Enrique Martínez (Spain/FC Barcelona), José Mourinho (Portugal/Chelsea), Jorge Sampaoli (Argentina/Chilean national team), Diego Simeone (Argentina/Atlético Madrid), Arsène Wenger (France/Arsenal).