Barcelona top Ballon d’Or list with six players
What you need to know:
- Manchester City trio Sergio Aguero, Kevin De Bruyne and Yaya Toure are among five Premier League players on the shortlist.
- Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho and Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger are on the 10-man Coach of the Year shortlist.
- The winners will be announced in a ceremony at Zurich on January 11.
PARIS
Spanish giants Barcelona top the Fifa shortlist for the Ballon d’Or world player of the year award with six players named in a second 23-strong selection.
They include the favourite for the prestigious award, Argentinian Lionel Messi, as well as Javier Mascherano (Argentina), Andres Iniesta (Spain), Neymar (Brazil), Ivan Rakitic (Croatia) and Luis Suarez (Uruguay).
They will be up against last year’s winner, Cristiano Ronaldo, and his Real Madrid team-mates Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema as well as five players from German giants Bayern Munich.
Manchester City trio Sergio Aguero, Kevin De Bruyne and Yaya Toure are among five Premier League players on the shortlist.
Chelsea’s Eden Hazard and Arsenal’s Alexis Sanchez are also in the frame to be named world football’s best player.
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho and Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger are on the 10-man Coach of the Year shortlist.
The winners will be announced in a ceremony at Zurich on January 11.
SHORTLIST
World Player of the Year: 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 Ibrahimovic (Sweden/Paris Saint-Germain), Andres Iniesta (Spain/Barcelona), Toni Kroos (Germany/Real Madrid), Robert Lewandowski (Poland/Bayern Munich), Javier Mascherano (Argentina/Barcelona), Lionel Messi (Argentina/Barcelona), Thomas Müller (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/Barcelona), Yaya Touré (Ivory Coast/Manchester City), Arturo Vidal (Chile/Juventus/Bayern Munich).
Fifa World Coach of the Year for Men’s Football 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 (Spain/FC Barcelona), Jose Mourinho (Portugal/Chelsea), Jorge Sampaoli (Argentina/Chilean national team), Diego Simeone (Argentina/Atletico Madrid), Arsene Wenger (France/Arsenal).
