FIFA today revealed their 23 man shortlist for the 2016 FIFA Best Player Award.
10 play in the Premier League, 10 play in Spain, 2 play in Germany and Gianluigi Buffon plays in Italy.
Having won the Champions League and Euro 2016, Cristiano Ronaldo is the major favourite to win the new FIFA award as well as the Ballon d’Or.
Ozil and Sanchez included
Last week, Arsenal fans were dismayed at the news that their star attacking duo of Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil had missed out on the 30 man Ballon d’Or shortlist.
Both were included in the 23 man shortlist by FIFA. See all the candidates in the photo below.
How the winner is decided
The Best FIFA Men’s Player 2016 will be determined through a combined voting process, in which 50% of the decision will be based on the votes of captains and head coaches from national teams around the globe.
The other 50% will be split between an online public ballot with football fans and submissions from a selected group of over 200 media representatives around the world.