Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi head the 23 man short list for the 2015 Ballon d'Or award.

The short list will be reduced to three players ahead of the awards ceremony in Zurich on January 11th next year. Real Madrid star Ronaldo is the reigning champion.

All 23 players on the shortlist play their club football in Europe, but only 14 play their international football on the continent. Manuel Neuer is the only goalkeeper to make the list, which is dominated by attackers. No defenders made the cut.

Players including Gareth Bale, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Robert Lewandowski will be looking to join the likes of Ronaldo and Messi on the three man short list.

Ballon d'Or Shortlist

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)

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)