The 30-man shortlist for the 2016 Ballon d'Or has been released and Leicester City star Jamie Vardy is the only Englishman in the list. Manchester United summer signings Zlatan Ibrahimović and Paul Pogba is included, while Manchester City's Sergio Aguero has also made it to the list.
Barcelona star Lionel Messi won it the current holder, while Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo finished second. The latter is one of the firm favourites to win it this time and will face competition from his club teammate Gareth Bale.
Luis Suarez and Neymar have also made it to the list, while Arsenal duo of Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil have been left behind. West Ham United's Dimitri Payet has made to the list after impressing for both club and country.
The full 30-man shortlist is given below:
- Sergio Agüero (Manchester City & Argentina)
- Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Borussia Dortmund & Gabon)
- Gareth Bale (Real Madrid & Wales)
- Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus & Italy)
- Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City & Belgium)
- Paulo Dybala (Juventus & Argentina)
- Diego Godín (Atlético Madrid & Uruguay)
- Antoine Griezmann (Atlético Madrid & France)
- Gonzalo Higuaín (Napoli/Juventus & Argentina)
- Zlatan Ibrahimović (Paris Saint-Germain/Manchester United & Sweden)
- Andrés Iniesta (Barcelona & Spain)
- Koke (Atlético Madrid & Spain)
- Toni Kroos (Real Madrid & Germany)
- Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich & Poland)
- Hugo Lloris (Tottenham Hotspur & France)
- Riyad Mahrez (Leicester City & Algeria)
- Lionel Messi (Barcelona & Argentina)
- Luka Modrić (Real Madrid & Croatia)
- Thomas Müller (Bayern Munich & Germany)
- Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich & Germany)
- Neymar (Barcelona & Brazil)
- Dimitri Payet (West Ham & France)
- Pepe (Real Madrid & Portugal)
- Paul Pogba (Juventus/Manchester United & France)
- Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid & Spain)
- Rui Patrício (Sporting CP & Portugal)
- Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid & Portugal)
- Luis Suárez (Barcelona & Uruguay)
- Jamie Vardy (Leicester City & England)
- Arturo Vidal (Bayern Munich & Chile)
