Agüero, Hazard Battle Messi, Ronaldo For 2016 FIFA Ballon d’Or

FIFA and France Football, Tuesday, announced the names of the nominees
for the FIFA Ballon d'Or and for the FIFA World Coach of the Year for
Men's Football awards.

The awards recognise the best in each category, without distinction of
championship or nationality, for their respective achievements between
22 November 2014 and 20 November 2015 inclusive.

The final decisions will be made by the captains and head coaches of
the men's national teams as well as by international media
representatives selected by France Football. The winners of all of the
awards will be announced at the FIFA Ballon d'Or as part of a
televised show at the Zurich Kongresshaus on 11 January 2016.


PHOTO: FC Barcelona's Lionel Messi, left, duels for the ball against
Celta de Vigo's Pablo Hernandez during a Spanish La Liga soccer match
at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona, Spain, Saturday, Nov. 1, 2014.
(AP Photo)

The list of 23 male candidates has been drawn up by football experts
from the FIFA Football Committee and a group of experts from France
Football.

The voting period for the awards commences on 26 October 2015 and
closes on 20 November 2015 (midnight CET). In the event that
insufficient votes (less than two-thirds of all potential jury
members) are cast during the voting period, FIFA and France Football
may, at their discretion, extend the voting period by one week to
allow only those participating jury members who have not yet cast
their vote by 20 November 2015 (midnight CET) to do so.

On 30 November, FIFA and France Football will announce in a web show
the names of the three women and three men, as well as the three
coaches for women's football and three coaches for men's football, who
have received the most votes (without announcing the winners).

The three nominees for the FIFA Puskás Award (honouring the most
beautiful goal of the year) will be also unveiled.
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
Ibrahimović (Sweden/Paris Saint-Germain), Andrés Iniesta (Spain/FC
Barcelona), Toni Kroos (Germany/Real Madrid), Robert Lewandowski
(Poland/FC Bayern Munich), Javier Mascherano (Argentina/FC Barcelona),
Lionel Messi (Argentina/FC Barcelona), Thomas Müller (Germany/FC
Bayern Munich), Manuel Neuer (Germany/FC Bayern Munich), Neymar
(Brazil/FC Barcelona), Paul Pogba (France/Juventus), Ivan Rakitić
(Croatia/FC Barcelona), Arjen Robben (Netherlands/FC Bayern Munich),
James Rodríguez (Colombia/Real Madrid), Alexis Sánchez
(Chile/Arsenal), Luis Suárez (Uruguay/FC Barcelona), Yaya Touré (Côte
d'Ivoire/Manchester City), Arturo Vidal (Chile/Juventus/FC Bayern
Munich).