Predicting the 23-man shortlist for the 2014 Ballon d'Or

Cristiano Ronaldo was the winner of the award in 2013The FIFA Ballon d'Or is one of the most talked about individual awards in the football world. The award was initially simply known as the Ballon d'Or and was merged with the FIFA Player of the Year award in 2010 and renamed as the FIFA Ballon d'Or. Only two people have won the award since and they are none other than Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. It will be interesting to see if the award will see different recipient this year because Ronaldo and Messi look strong favourites for the award once again. Every year, 23 players from around the world are nominated for the award based on their performances in a calendar year. And after a poll in which national team captains and managers and as well as journalists from around the world vote, the final three are announced before the main event.The winner is announced at the awards ceremony in front of a live audience based on the same polls. We take a look at who could make the 23-man shortlist.Source for Statistics: SquawkaDisclaimer: The views expressed here are those of the author and not of the website.

#4 Serie A & Ligue 1

Zlatan Ibrahimovic is most likely to be the only candidate from the French Ligue 1

Zlatan Ibrahimovic

Ibrahimovic was the first player to have been nominated for the award while playing for a French club after the award was renamed as FIFA Ballon d'Or in 2010 when he was shortlisted in 2012. The Swede finished 10th in 2012 and then fourth last year as the prestegious award continues to evade the flamboyant striker. But he did win the Puskas award for the best goal (for Sweden against England).

Ibrahimovic has taken the Ligue 1 by storm and scored 25 club goals in 2014 and has also scored once for Sweden taking his tally for the current year to 26 goals. He was also the Ligue 1 top scorer and the Best Player of the Season award last time around. Ibrahimovic started the current season in style by scoring 5 goals in 2 league games before he suffered an injury which has kept him out of action till date. 

Carlos Tevez

It's hard to recollect the last time Carlos Tevez had a poor run of form because that's how good the Argentine has been for Juventus in his debut season just like he was with in any season with all his previous clubs.

Tevez scored 21 goals for Juventus last season and helped them to a Serie A title, but was still overlooked for the Argentina squad at the World Cup. It is debatable whether he would have made a difference in a side that struggled to score goals even with the quality of attacking options at their disposal. But he could have easily been a better option than an out of form Rodrigo Palacio.

The Argentine has so far scored 17 goals in 2014 for Juventus with 8 of them coming this season. 

Juventus duo Carlos Tevez and Paul Pogba look like the most probable nominees for the Ballon d’Or shortlist

Paul Pogba

The former Manchester United man is proving none other than Sir Alex Ferguson wrong with his performances for both club and country and has become an indispensable player for both. This has also made him one of the most discussed transfer targets for many clubs.

Pogba who won the Serie A tilte with Juventus this year, is slowly cementing a regular starting spot in the Turin side, thereby forcing experienced players Claudio Marchisio to be benched. The 21-year-old was also one of the standout performers at the FIFA World Cup and he was awarded with the FIFA World Cup Best Young Player award.