Early Tuesday, world football’s governing body FIFA and France Football announced the names of the players who made the 23-man shortlist for the 2015 Ballon d’Or award, due next year in January.
The list is dominated by last season’s treble winners Barcelona, with 6 players chosen, most notably four-time recipient Lionel Messi, who scored a total of 58 goals for the Blaugrana in all competitions in 2014-15, 43 in La Liga, 10 in the Champions League.
Current Ballon d’Or champion Cristiano Ronaldo, who became Real Madrid’s all-time leading scorer on Saturday, rightfully takes his spot among the nominees, alongside four other Blancos players , making the Madrid giants the second most dominant side.
Tied with Les Merengues are German giants, with 5 players on the list, led by goalscoring machine Robert Lewandowski.
Other inclusions in the list were Man City’s Sergio Aguero, Arsenal’s Alexis Sanchez, and Chelsea’s Eden Hazard, a player who was instrumental to their English Premier League title success last season.
The 10 managers up for the FIFA World Coach of the Year award were also announced. Luis Enrique leads the pack after his successful debut campaign as Barcelona manager, with Copa America winning boss Jorge Sampaoli, Sevilla’s Unai Emery, and Juventus’ Massimiliano Allegri also made the cut.
On November 30, the 23-man and 10-man lists will be narrowed down to only three and announced on a web show by FIFA and France Football.
See both lists in full below.
Ballon d'Or 23-man shortlist: 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).
FIFA World Coach of the Year 10-man shortlist: 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).
