Ronaldo, Ribery and Messi in the Ballon d'Or 2013 shortlist

FIFA has announced it’s 3 man shortlist for the Ballon d’Or 2013 award and as expected they are Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Franck Ribery.

Lionel Messi has won the award on the four previous occasions but perhaps for the first time the Argentine forward starts off as a relative underdog.

Cristiano Ronaldo has emerged as a clear favourite to win his first Ballon d’Or since 2008 after a dazzling display in 2013 which has seen him notch up 28 goals this season alone, for club and country. The Portuguese forward has scored a total of 66 goals in 2013.His stellar role in helping Portugal qualify for the 2014 FIFA World Cup is likely to tip the scales in his favour.

Frank Ribery has won everything there is to win from a team point-of-view, completing a brilliant treble with Bayern Munich, and is a dark horse for the trophy.

Voting for the Ballon d’Or closed on November 29 after the original deadline of November 15 was extended due to poor response.

The winner will be announced on January 13 , 2014 in Zurich.

Here is a tweet from FIFA ‘s official account announcing the same

FIFA also announced the shortlist for the Coach of the Year: Sir Alex Ferguson, Jupp Heynckes, Jurgen Klopp

The Women’s World Player of the Year nominees: Nadine Angerer and last year’s finalists Marta and Abby Wambach

Women’s Coach of the Year nominees: Ralf Kellermann, Silvia Neid and Pia Sundhage

FIFA BALLON D’OR nominees: @Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Franck Ribery #BallondOr pic.twitter.com/h0LqoIRPMV

— FIFA.com (@FIFAcom) December 9, 2013