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Ballon d'Or: Riyad Mahrez, Paul Pogba, Jamie Vardy and Hugo Lloris on shortlist

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A look at which players out of the 30 nominated stand the best chance of winning this year's Ballon d'Or award.

Riyad Mahrez, Jamie Vardy, Paul Pogba, Dimitri Payet and Hugo Lloris have been named on the 30-man shortlist for the 2016 Ballon d'Or.

France Football have announced all the players in contention for the prize, awarded last year to Barcelona's Lionel Messi, who is again among the nominees along with Neymar, Luis Suarez, Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Also representing the Premier League are Manchester United striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Manchester City duo Sergio Aguero and Kevin De Bruyne.

Borussia Dortmund forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Juventus trio Paulo Dybala, Gonzalo Higuain and Gianluigi Buffon also feature.

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Real Madrid have Bale, Ronaldo, Pepe, Sergio Ramos, Toni Kroos and Luka Modric on the shortlist.

Atletico Madrid's Diego Godin, Koke and Antoine Griezmann, Barcelona's Andres Iniesta, and Bayern Munich quartet Manuel Neuer, Arturo Vidal, Robert Lewandowski and Thomas Muller are also among the 30 nominees, along with Sporting Lisbon and Portugal goalkeeper Rui Patricio.

Bale starred for Wales and and Ronaldo led Portugal at Euro 2016, and both helped Real Madrid win their second Champions League in three years in May.

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Portugal captain Ronaldo, who last won the Ballon d'Or in 2014, is currently favourite to take home the trophy for the fourth time after helping his country beat Griezmann's France to win Euro 2016.

Portugal's forward Cristiano Ronaldo (L) comforts Wales' forward Gareth Bale after the Euro 2016 semi-final football match between Portugal and Wales at th
Image: Ronaldo and Bale are both in contention for the Ballon d'Or award

This year's edition of the prestigious individual prize will be judged solely by a panel of journalists after FIFA and France Football ended their partnership.

Between 2010 and 2015, FIFA's World Player of the Year award had been combined with the Ballon d'Or to create the FIFA Ballon d'Or, which was decided by a combination of votes from national team managers, captains and journalists.

2016 Ballon d'Or shortlist

  • Sergio Aguero (Manchester City)
  • Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Borussia Dortmund)
  • Gareth Bale (Real Madrid)
  • Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus)
  • Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)
  • Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City)
  • Paulo Dybala (Juventus)
  • Diego Godin (Atletico Madrid)
  • Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid)
  • Gonzalo Higuain (Juventus)
  • Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Manchester United)
  • Andres Iniesta (Barcelona)
  • Koke (Atletico Madrid)
  • Toni Kroos (Real Madrid)
  • Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
  • Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich)
  • Luka Modric (Real Madrid)
  • Riyad Mahrez (Leicester)
  • Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
  • Hugo Lloris (Tottenham)
  • Dimitri Payet (West Ham)
  • Paul Pogba (Manchester United)
  • Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich)
  • Pepe (Real Madrid)
  • Neymar (Barcelona)
  • Rui Patricio (Sporting Lisbon)
  • Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid)
  • Luis Suarez (Barcelona)
  • Jamie Vardy (Leicester)
  • Arturo Vidal (Bayern Munich)

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