Lionel Messi is the favourite to win the prestigious Ballon d'Or after being named on the 30-strong shortlist for the award that will be presented to Europe's best player in December.The 30-man shortlist:
| Lionel Messi (Barcelona) | Maicon (Inter Milan) |
| Andres Iniesta (Barcelona) | Diego (Juventus) |
| Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Barcelona) | Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich) |
| Thierry Henry (Barcelona) | Edin Dzeko (Wolfsburg) |
| Xavi (Barcelona) | Yoann Gourcuff (Bordeaux) |
| Yaya Toure (Barcelona) | Andrey Arshavin (Arsenal) |
| Iker Casillas (Real Madrid) | Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal) |
| Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) | Didier Drogba (Chelsea) |
| Karim Benzema (Real Madrid) | Frank Lampard (Chelsea) |
| Kaka (Real Madrid) | John Terry (Chelsea) |
| Luis Fabiano (Sevilla) | Steven Gerrard (Liverpool) |
| David Villa (Valencia) | Fernando Torres (Liverpool) |
| Diego Forlan (Atletico Madrid) | Nemanja Vidic (Manchester United) |
| Samuel Eto'o (Inter Milan) | Wayne Rooney (Manchester United) |
| Julio Cesar (Inter Milan) | Ryan Giggs (Manchester United) |
So vote!