Leicester star striker, Jamie Vardy together with his team mate who had adversely been linked with a shock move to Arsenal, Riyad Mahrez have been shortlisted for Ballon d’Or award.
Real Madrid’s Gareth Bale, Manchester United’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Paul Pogba, and Manchester City’s Kevin de Bruyne and Sergio Aguero also feature.
Other Premier League names on the list are West Ham midfielder Dimitri Payet and Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.
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.
Borussia Dortmund forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Juventus trio Paulo Dybala, Gonzalo Higuain and Gianluigi Buffon also feature.
Real Madrid have Bale, Ronaldo, Pepe, Sergio Ramos, Toni Kroos and Luka Modric on the shortlist.
Vardy and Mahrez won the Premier League with Leicester last season and Algerian Mahrez was named Professional Footballers’ Association Player of the Year.
The prize has been awarded by France Football every year since 1956, but for the past six years it became the Fifa Ballon d’Or in association with world football’s governing body.
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.
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.
The Ballon d’Or shortlisted players
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)