FIFA Ballon d'Or:

Jamie Vardy, RiyadMahrez, Gareth Bale & Sergio Aguero on shortlist

By Boris Esono

Leicester City’s Jamie Vardy and RiyadMahrez have been shortlisted for the 2016 FIFA Ballon d’Or award for the world’s best player. Real Madrid's Gareth Bale, Manchester United's ZlatanIbrahimovic 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 DimitriPayet and Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris. Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo and Barcelona's Lionel Messi are included.

                Messi, who claimed a record fifth award in 2015 and three-time winner Ronaldo, have shared the prize since 2007 when AC Milan's Kaka took the honor.

                Vardy and Mahrez won the Premier League with Leicester last season and Algerian Mahrez was named Professional Footballers' Association Player of the Year.

2016 FIFA Ballon d'Or shortlist

Sergio Aguero (Manchester City)

Pierre-EmerickAubameyang (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)

ZlatanIbrahimovic (Manchester United)

Andres Iniesta (Barcelona)

Koke (Atletico Madrid)

Toni Kroos (Real Madrid)

Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)

Hugo Lloris (Tottenham Hotspur)

RiyadMahrez (Leicester City)

Lionel Messi (Barcelona)

Luka Modric (Real Madrid)

Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich)

Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich)

Neymar (Barcelona)

DimitriPayet (West Ham)

Pepe (Real Madrid)

Paul Pogba (Manchester United)

Rui Patricio (Sporting Lisbon)

Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid)

Luis Suarez (Barcelona)

Jamie Vardy (Leicester City)

Arturo Vidal (Bayern Munich)

The 30-man shortlist will be trimmed to three players before the awards evening in January.