Ronaldo, Messi, Yaya Toure tops FIFA Ballon d’Or 2014 List

Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Manuel Neuer lead the nominations for FIFA’s 2014 Ballon d’Or award. The governing body released on Monday a list of 23 names being considered for the prize, reported by FIFA.com: A shortlist of the final three candidates will be announced before the eventual winner is crowned on Jan. 12, 2015. Ronaldo is gunning to retain the trophy for the first time in his career with a third overall win, while Messi will be looking to become the first-ever player to win five Ballon d’Or trophies. All club and international performances are counted through the calendar year of 2014. This means the World Cup is likely to be an important factor in the vote. A total of 184 national coaches and captains plus 173 members of the media named their top three last year, with this season’s vote taking on the same formula. As noted by FIFA‘s breakdown of the 2013 vote, each time a player is put first, he will receive five points. Second gains three, while third has one added to his total.

BALLON D'OR SHORTLIST 

Gareth Bale (Wales), Karim Benzema (France), Diego Costa (Spain), Thibaut Courtois (Belgium), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Angel Di Maria (Argentina), Mario Gotze (Germany), Eden Hazard (Belgium), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden), Andres Iniesta (Spain), Toni Kroos (Germany), Philipp Lahm (Germany), Javier Mascherano (Argentina), Lionel Messi (Argentina), Thomas Muller (Germany), Manuel Neuer (Germany), Neymar (Brazil), Paul Pogba (France), Sergio Ramos (Spain), Arjen Robben (Holland, James Rodriguez (Colombia), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany), Yaya Toure (Ivory Coast).