Who Are the Nominees for the 2011 FIFA Ballon d’Or World Player of the Year?

The FIFA World Player of the Year award is given annually to the best male and female footballers in the world, based on votes by coaches and captains of international teams.

The award, which started in 1991 for men and 2001 for women, has been dominated by European-based Brazilian players who have won 8 out of 18 editions of the prize. The award's youngest winner, male or female, was Ronaldo, who won at the age of 20 in 1996. He again won it in 1997 and 2002. Ronaldo, Zinedine Zidane and Birgit Prinz have won the award three times each.

Here is the list of the nominees for the 2011 FIFA Ballon d’Or World Player of the Year. Who do you think will win this year?

Wesley Sneijder (Inter Milan and Holland)

Wayne Rooney (Manchester United and England)

Andres Iniesta (Barcelona and Spain)

Xavi Hernandez (Barcelona and Spain)

Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich and Germany)

Lionel Messi (Barcelona and Argentina)

Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid and Portugal)

Iker Casillas (Real Madrid and Spain)

Cesc Fabregas (Barcelona and Spain)

Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich and Germany)

Xabi Alonso (Real Madrid and Spain)

Sergio Aguero (Manchester City and Argentina)

Gerard Pique (Barcelona and Spain)

Mesut Ozil (Real Madrid and Germany)

Dani Alves (Barcelona and Brazil)

David Villa (Barcelona and Spain)

Samuel Eto'o (Anzhi and Cameroon)

Diego Forlan (Inter Milan and Uruguay)

Luis Suarez (Liverpool and Uruguay)

Neymar (Santos and Brazil)

Eric Abidal (Barcelona and France)

Karim Benzema (Real Madrid and France)

Nani (Manchester United and Portugal)