Ballon d’Or 23-man shortlist

FIFA and France Football have published a list of 23 players chosen as candidates for the prestigious 2013 Ballon d'Or award.

The three names with the most votes will then be announced in early December, with the winner due to be crowned in January.

Here are those 23 names as selected by FIFA's Football Committee and a group of experts from France Football:

Ballon d'Or Candidates

Gareth Bale (Wales)	Mesut Ozil (Germany)
Edinson Cavani (Uruguay)	Andrea Pirlo (Italy)
Radamel Falcao (Colombia)	Franck Ribery (France)
Eden Hazard (Belgium)	Arjen Robben (Netherlands)
Zlatan Ibrahimovc (Sweden)	Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)
Andres Iniesta (Spain)	Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany)
Philipp Lahm (Germany)	Luis Suarez (Uruguay)
Robert Lewandowski (Poland)	Thiago Silva (Brazil)
Lionel Messi (Argentina)	Yaya Toure (Ivory Coast)
Thomas Muller (Germany)	Robin van Persie (Netherlands)
Manuel Neuer (Germany)	Xavi (Spain)
Neymar (Brazil)

The final decisions will be made by the captains and head coaches of the men’s national teams as well as international media representatives selected by France Football.

In early December 2013, Fifa and France Football will announce the names of the three men who have received the most votes, without revealing the winner.

The winners of the award will be revealed at the Fifa Ballon d’Or gala as part of a televised show at the Zurich Kongresshaus on 13 January 2014.