FIFA has announced the 23-membered list for the prestigious Ballon D’Or Award which comprises of some star-studded names.
Reigning World Player of the Year Cristiano Ronaldo will be looking for his third consecutive and fourth Ballon D’Or trophy in total.
It’s a La Liga onslaught as 10 members of the 23 men chosen have been selected from defending La Liga Champions Barcelona and Real Madrid respectively.
Barcelona’s “MSN” – Lionel Messi, Neymar Jr. and Luis Suarez – along with Croatian Ivan Rakitic and Argentine Javier Mascherano have made the cut. Whilst, Real Madrid’s front line of “BBC” – Karim Benzema, Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo – Toni Kroos and James Rodriguez are also included in the list.
Messi will be looking for his record setting fifth Ballon D’Or in the coming year.
Robert Lewandowski, Thomas Mueller, Arjen Robben, Arturo Vidal and Manuel Neuer are the five representatives who signify the Bundesliga champions, Bayern Munich in the list. Arsenal’s Alexis Sanchez, Manchester City’s Yaya Toure, Kevin De Bruyne, Sergio Aguero and Chelsea’s Eden Hazard represent the Premier League.
The 23-membered list is as follows:
Sergio Aguero (Argentina/Manchester City)
Gareth Bale (Wales/Real Madrid)
Karim Benzema (France/Real Madrid)
Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal/Real Madrid)
Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium/Manchester City)
Eden Hazard (Belgium/Chelsea)
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden/Paris St Germain)
Andres Iniesta (Spain/Barcelona)
Toni Kroos (Germany/Real Madrid)
Robert Lewandowski (Poland/Bayern Munich)
Javier Mascherano (Argentina/Barcelona)
Lionel Messi (Argentina/Barcelona)
Thomas Mueller (Germany/Bayern Munich)
Manuel Neuer (Germany/Bayern Munich)
Neymar (Brazil/Barcelona)
Paul Pogba (France/Juventus)
Ivan Rakitic (Croatia/Barcelona)
Arjen Robben (Netherlands/Bayern Munich)
James Rodriguez (Colombia/Real Madrid)
Alexis Sanchez (Chile/Arsenal)
Luis Suarez (Uruguay/FC Barcelona)
Yaya Toure (Ivory Coast/Manchester City)
Arturo Vidal (Chile/Bayern Munich).
The winner of the prestigious award will be announced on January 11th, 2016.
