Ahead of this week's UEFA Champions League 2015 group stages games, FIFA announced the shortlist of players that make up the possible nominees, and therefore winners, of the football world's most coveted award, the Ballon d'Or. Last year, Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo won. Lionel Messi has won four times. This trophy usually goes to these two, but this shortlist has some newcomers that could possibly take it home. As with any award, betting odds are already out and we've shared some of them below. Read more on this sports news.
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6 Barcelona players, 5 Bayern München stars, 5 Real Madrid footballers, 3 Manchester City teammates and a single nominee from Arsenal, Chelsea, Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain make up this shortlist. Do you have guesses as to who was named in the top 23 players considered for this award?
You can check out the official shortlist of Ballon d'Or hopefuls right here, thanks to UEFA:
Sergio Agüero (Manchester City)
Gareth Bale (Real Madrid)
Karim Benzema (Real Madrid)
Kevin De Bruyne (Wolfsburg/Manchester City)
Eden Hazard (Chelsea)
Zlatan Ibrahimović (Paris Saint-Germain)
Andrés Iniesta (Barcelona)
Toni Kroos (Real Madrid
Robert Lewandowski (Bayern München)
Javier Mascherano (Barcelona)
Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
Thomas Müller (Bayern München)
Manuel Neuer (Bayern München)
Neymar (Barcelona)
Paul Pogba (Juventus)
Ivan Rakitić (Barcelona)
Arjen Robben (Bayern München)
James Rodríguez (Real Madrid)
Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)
Alexis Sánchez (Arsenal)
Luis Suárez (Barcelona)
Yaya Touré (Manchester City)
Arturo Vidal (Juventus/Bayern München).
This list is basically the top 23 players of the year in the world of football. What names do you think will make it past this shortlist?
According to Sky Sport's Sky Bets, the odds are still with Ronaldo and Messi, but players like Neymar, Lewandoski, and Suarez could add more spice into the mix this year.
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