Ballon D’or 2015: FIFA Shortlist Final Three
World football governing body, FIFA has shortlisted three names for the footballer of the year award, with the winner to be revealed at a ceremony in Zurich on January 11, 2016.
Lionel Messi, Neymar and Cristiano Ronaldo have been named on the shortlist for the Ballon d’Or 2015, after the shortlist was whittled down from 23 names to just three.
The award has been dominated by Messi and Ronaldo since 2008, with 2010 being the only year in which they didn’t lock out the top two as Andres Iniesta came second after scoring the winner in the World Cup final.
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It is the eighth consecutive year the Real Madrid forward and Barcelona’s Messi have been on the shortlist.
Messi is looking for a fifth success after sweeping the board between 2009 and 2012, while Ronaldo is aiming to win the world’s best player contest for the fourth time, following previous successes in 2008, 2013 and 2014, and draw level with the Argentine for overall wins.
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Neymar on the other hand will hope to break the Messi-Ronaldo monopoly that dates back to 2007 after his first nomination.
The other award categories are women’s world player of the year and men’s football world coach of the year.
USA’s Carli Lloyd, Japan’s Aya Miyama and Germany’s Celia Sasic will vie to be named women’s world player of the year.
Luis Enrique heads the coach of the year shortlist after leading Barcelona to Champions League, La Liga and Spanish Cup triumphs.
His two rivals are Pep Guardiola, who led Bayern Munich to the Bundesliga title, and Jorge Sampaoli, under whose guidance Chile won their first Copa America title this summer.
