Cristiano Ronaldo, Franck Ribery and Lionel Messi on the three-man shortlist for the 2013 Ballon d'Or

Cristiano Ronaldo, Franck Ribery and Lionel Messi on the three-man shortlist for the 2013 Ballon d'Or

As we all anticipated, Cristiano Ronaldo, Franck Ribery and Lionel Messi have been shortlisted fot the 2013 Ballon d'Or.

The trio were chosen from the 23-man list which included other top players like Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Mesut Ozil, Neymar, Gareth Bale etc, the world player of the year will be announced on January 13, 2014.

Barcelona's Messi has won it for four years in a row but Cristiano Ronaldo is the favourite to win this year.

Women's player of the year nominees: Nadine Angerer (Germany), Marta (Brazil) and Abby Wambach (USA).

Coach of the year: Former Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson, ex-Bayern Munich coach Jupp Heynckes and Borussia Dortmund's Jurgen Klopp.