Six World Champions nominated for FIFA Ballon d'Or

Six World Champions are in with a shot of being named World Footballer of the Year. FIFA revealed the shortlisted nominees last night and Mario Götze, Thomas Müller, Philipp Lahm, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Toni Kroos and goalkeeper Manuel Neuer are all amongst the candidates for the FIFA Ballon d’Or 2014. Dutchman Arjen Robben, who plays for record German champions Bayern München is also on the list of 23, alongside last year’s winner Cristiano Ronaldo of Real Madrid.

Germany manager Joachim Löw, FC Bayern’s Pep Guardiola and USMNT manager Jürgen Klinsmann are amongst the nominees for FIFA’s World Coach of the Year award. Ten managers have been shortlisted in total, all selected by experts from the FIFA football committee and the French Football Association.

The final vote will be made by captains and coaches of the men’s senior national teams, as well as selected international media representatives. The shortlists will be cut down to three people on 1st December. The award ceremony will take place during a gala at FIFA’s headquarters in Zurich on 12th January 2015. The FIFA FIFPro World XI, FIFA Puskás Award for the best goal of the year, the FIFA Presidential Award and the FIFA Fair Play Award will also be presented during the ceremony.

Shortlist for the FIFA Ballon d’Or 2014

Shortlist for FIFA World Coach of the Year