Ballon d'Or: Final Three announced

The list of the final three candidates in the different categories of the second edition of the FIFA Ballon d'Or awards were released yesterday. For the award FIFA had joined hands with France Football last year after the Ballon d'Or award was earlier handed our by the French magazine, while FIFA had their own World Player of the Year award. Now these two have been merged into one and the FIFA Ballon d'Or awards will be handed out on January 9, 2012 in Zurich.

Argentinian Lionel Messi, the winner in the last couple of editions, along with Barcelona team mate Xavi Hernandez and Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo of Real Madrid have made the final three.

Amongst the coaches who made the final three are Barca coach Pep Guardiola, his Real Madrid rival José Mourinho and seasoned Scotsman Sir Alex Ferguson of Manchester United.

National coaches and captains from around the world plus selected journalists can vote for their top candidates.


The following three men (in alphabetical order) are in contention for the FIFA Ballon d'Or 2011

Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal/Real Madrid), Lionel Messi (Argentina/FC Barcelona), Xavi Hernandez (Spain/FC Barcelona)


The following three coaches (in alphabetical order) are in contention for the FIFA World Coach of the Year for Men's Football 2011

Alex Ferguson (Scotland/Manchester United), Pep Guardiola (Spain/FC Barcelona), José Mourinho (Portugal/Real Madrid)


The following three women (in alphabetical order) are in contention for the title of FIFA Women's World Player 2011

Marta (Brazil), Homare Sawa (Japan), Abby Wambach (USA)


The following three coaches (in alphabetical order) are in contention for the FIFA World Coach of the Year for Women's Football 2011

Bruno Bini (France), Norio Sasaki (Japan), Pia Sundhage (Sweden/Team USA)

Ferenc Puskas Goal of the Year

Lionel Messi (Argentina/FC Barcelona), Neymar (Brazil/FC Santos), Wayne Rooney (England/Manchester United)

FIFA Ballon d'Or: Nominees for the awards released

The the list of candidates of the second edition of the FIFA Ballon d'Or awards were released earlier today. For the award FIFA had joined hands with France Football last year after the Ballon d'Or award was earlier handed our by the French magazine, while FIFA had their own World Player of the Year award. Now these two have been merged into one and the FIFA Ballon d'Or awards will be handed out on January 9, 2012 in Zurich.

Argentinian Lionel Messi, the winner in the last couple of editions, leads the list of 23 players named as candidates which also contains seven of his Barcelona team mates with rivals Real Madrid having five players amongst the contenders from around the globe.

National coaches and captains from around the world plus selected journalists can vote for their top candidates. The top three in each category would be announced at a press conference in Paris on December 5 ahead of the awards a month later in Zurich.


The following 23 men (in alphabetical order) are in contention for the FIFA Ballon d'Or 2011

Éric Abidal (France/FC Barcelona), Sergio Agüero (Argentina/Atletico Madrid-Manchester City), Karim Benzema (France/Real Madrid), Iker Casillas (Spain/Real Madrid), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal/Real Madrid), Daniel Alves (Brazil/FC Barcelona), Samuel Eto'o (Cameroon/Internationale Milan-Anzhi Makhachkala), Cesc Fabregas (Spain/FC Arsenal-FC Barcelina), Diego Forlan (Uruguay/Atletico Madrid-Internationale Milan), Andres Iniesta (Spain/FC Barcelona), Lionel Messi (Argentina/FC Barcelona), Thomas Muller (Germany/FC Bayern Munich), Nani (Portugal/Manchester United), Neymar (Brazil/FC Santos), Mesut Özil (Germany/Real Madrid), Gerard Piqué (Spain/FC Barcelona), Wayne Rooney (England/Manchester United), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany/FC Bayern Munich), Wesley Sneijder (Holland/Internationale Milan), Luis Suárez (Uruguay/FC Liverpool), David Villa (Spain/FC Barcelona), Xabi Alonso (Spain/Real Madrid), Xavi Hernandez (Spain/FC Barcelona)


The following ten coaches (in alphabetical order) are in contention for the FIFA World Coach of the Year for Men's Football 2011

Vicente Del Bosque (Spain), Alex Ferguson (Scotland/Manchester United), Rudi Garcia (France/Lille OSC), Pep Guardiola (Spain/FC Barcelona), Jürgen Klopp (Germany/Borussia Dortmund), Joachim Löw (Germany), José Mourinho (Portugal/Real Madrid), Óscar Tabárez (Uruguay), André Villas-Boas (Portugal/FC Porto-Chelsea FC), Arsène Wenger (France/Arsenal FC)


The following ten women (in alphabetical order) are in contention for the title of FIFA Women's World Player 2011

Sonia Bompastor (France), Kerstin Garefrekes (Germany), Marta (Brazil), Aya Miyama (Japan), Alex Morgan (USA), Louisa Necib (France), Homare Sawa (Japan), Lotta Schelin (Sweden), Hope Solo (USA), Abby Wambach (USA)


The following ten coaches (in alphabetical order) are in contention for the FIFA World Coach of the Year for Women's Football 2011

Bruno Bini (France), Leonardo Cuellar (Mexico), Thomas Dennerby (Sweden), Patrice Lair (France/Olympique Lyonnais), Maren Meinert (Germany Under-19), Hope Powell (England), Norio Sasaki (Japan), Tom Sermanni (Scotland/Australia), Pia Sundhage (Sweden/Team USA), Jorge Vilda (Spain/Spain Under-17)

FIFA Ballon d'Or: A Barca Affair

The first-ever FIFA Ballon d'Or awards will be an all FC Barcelona affair with Argentine Lionel Messi facing Spanish club mates Andres Iniesta and Xavi Hernandez. These three players were the top three pick from the original list of 23 players. Meanwhile Fatmire Bajramaj (Germany), Marta (Brazil) and Birgit Prinz (Germany) will contest the women’s award.

This was announced today at a press conference held at the headquarters of the sports daily L'Equipe in Paris. And it was attended by FIFA Secretary General Jérôme Valcke, France Football CEO François Morinière plus former French internationals Jean-Pierre Papin and Christian Karembeu.

The Ballon d'Or award was earlier on handed our by the French magazine, while FIFA had their own World Player of the Year award. Now these two have been merged into one and the first-ever FIFA Ballon d'Or awards will be handed out on January 10, 2011 at the Kongresshaus in Zurich.

The candidates for the newly created FIFA World Coach of the Year for Men's Football award and the FIFA World Coach of the Year for Women's Football award were also announced. The contenders are the following: Vicente del Bosque (Spain/Spanish national team), Pep Guardiola (Spain/FC Barcelona) and José Mourinho (Portugal/FC Internazionale & Real Madrid CF) in the men's category, while Maren Meinert (Germany/German U-20 national team) Silvia Neid (Germany/German national team) and Pia Sundhage (Sweden/USA national team) have been named in the women's category.

All of these nominees were confirmed after a poll in which the captains and head coaches of the men's and women's national teams as well as international media representatives selected by magazine France Football voted for candidates. The votes from each of the three groups counted for one-third to obtain the final result.

Also the FIFA FIFPro World XI and the FIFA Puskás Award for the most beautiful goal of the year will also be announced for the second year running. The online vote for fans on FIFA.com for the FIFA Puskás Award has now reached the 1 million vote landmark, with one week to go until the poll closes at noon CET on 13 December. The FIFA Presidential Award and the FIFA Fair Play Award will also be presented during the gala.

FIFA Ballon d'Or awards candidates

The the list of candidates of the first-ever FIFA Ballon d'Or awards were released earlier today. For the new award FIFA have joined hands with France Football. The Ballon d'Or award was earlier on handed our by the French magazine, while FIFA had their own World Player of the Year award. Now these two have been merged into one and the first-ever FIFA Ballon d'Or awards will be handed out on January 10, 2011 in Zurich.

Last year Argentinian Lionel Messi had won the title, but it highly unlikely he will be able to defend it though it could go to one of his FC Barcelona team mates. In total seven Spanish World Cup winners are amongst the candidates, even five players from Germany made it. If you look club wise then FC Barcalona has the highest number of nominees with six followed by UEFA Champions League finalists International Milan and FC Bayern Munich with five.

Now national coaches and captains from around the world plus selected journalists can vote for their top candidates. The top three in each category would be announced at a press conference in Paris on December 6 ahead of the awards a month later.


The following 23 men (in alphabetical order) are in contention for the FIFA Ballon d'Or 2010

Xabi Alonso (Spain/Real Madrid), Daniel Alves (Brazil/FC Barcelona), Iker Casillas (Spain/Real Madrid), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal/Real Madrid), Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast/FC Chelsea), Samuel Eto'o (Cameroon/Internationale Milan), Cesc Fabregas (Spain/FC Arsenal), Diego Forlan (Uruguay/Atletico Madrid), Asamoah Gyan (Ghana/FC Stade Rennes-AFC Sunderland), Andres Iniesta (Spain/FC Barcelona), Julio Cesar (Brazil/Internationale Milan), Miroslav Klose (Germany/FC Bayern Munich), Philipp Lahm (Germany/FC Bayern Munich), Maicon (Brazil/Internationale Milan), Lionel Messi (Argentina/FC Barcelona), Thomas Muller (Germany/FC Bayern Munich), Mesut Ozil (Germany/SV Werder Bremen-Real Madrid), Carlos Puyol (Spain/FC Barcelona), Arjen Robben (Netherlands/FC Bayern Munich), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany/FC Bayern Munich), Wesley Sneijder (Holland/Internationale Milan), David Villa (Spain/FC Valencia-FC Barcelona), Xavi Hernandez (Spain/FC Barcelona).


The following ten coaches (in alphabetical order) are in contention for the FIFA World Coach of the Year for Men's Football 2010

Carlo Ancelotti (Italy/FC Chelsea), Vicente del Bosque (Spain), Sir Alex Ferguson (Scotland/Manchester United), Pep Guardiola (Spain/FC Barcelona), Joachim Loew (Germany), Jose Mourinho (Portugal/Internationale Milan-Real Madrid), Oscar Tabarez (Uruguay), Louis Van Gaal (Netherlands/Bayern Munich), Bert van Marwijk (Netherlands), Arsene Wenger (France/FC Arsenal)


The following ten women (in alphabetical order) are in contention for the title of FIFA Women's World Player 2010

Camille Abily (France), Fatmire Bajramaj (Germany), So Yun Ji (Korea Republic), Marta (Brazil), Birgit Prinz (Germany), Caroline Seger (Sweden), Christine Sinclair (Canada), Kelly Smith (England), Hope Solo (USA) and Abby Wambach (USA).


The following ten coaches (in alphabetical order) are in contention for the FIFA World Coach of the Year for Women's Football 2010

Bruno Bini (France), In Cheul Choi (South Korea, South Korea Under-20), Maren Meinert (Germany Under-20), Albertin Montoya (USA/ FC Gold Pride), Silvia Neid (Germany), Hope Powell (England), Norio Sasaki (Japan), Bernd Schröder (Germany/FFC Turbine Potsdam), Pia Sundhage (Sweden/Team USA), Béatrice von Siebenthal (Switzerland)