Leicester City pair Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez are among ten Premier League players shortlisted for player of the year at FIFA's inaugural 'The Best' awards.
The new incarnation for the world player of the year comes after France Football magazine reintroduced its Ballon d'Or award, which had merged with the FIFA equivalent in 2010.
Mahrez and Vardy along with now Chelsea midfielder N'Golo Kante were crucial to the Foxes' fairytale title success; all three are on the shortlist along with some of the usual suspects.
Manchester City duo Sergio Aguero and Kevin De Bruyne, Arsenal's Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil and Dimitri Payet of West Ham all fly the flag for the Premier League.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Paul Pogba, meanwhile, both moved to England in the summer after starring for Paris St Germain and Juventus respectively.
Spain's Primera Division also has 10 representatives, including Gareth Bale, Cristiano Ronaldo, Ballon d'Or holder Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar.
Two Bayern Munich players, Manuel Neuer and Robert Lewandowski, have made the list along with veteran Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon.
The shortlist was drawn up by representatives of FIFA's Football Committee and the winner will be announced at a ceremony in Zurich on January 9.
Half the votes for the award will come from managers and captains of national teams with the other 50 per cent split between an online public ballot and submissions from more than 200 media representatives around the world.
NOMINEES FOR FIFA PLAYER AWARD
Sergio Aguero (Argentina/Manchester City)
Gareth Bale (Wales/Real Madrid)
Gianluigi Buffon (Italy/Juventus)
Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal/Real Madrid)
Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium/Manchester City)
Antoine Griezmann (France/Atletico Madrid)
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden/Paris St Germain/Manchester United)
Andres Iniesta (Spain/Barcelona)
N'Golo Kante (France/Leicester/Chelsea)
Toni Kroos (Germany/Real Madrid)
Robert Lewandowski (Poland/Bayern Munich)
Riyad Mahrez (Algeria/Leicester)
Lionel Messi (Argentina/Barcelona)
Luka Modric (Croatia/Real Madrid)
Manuel Neuer (Germany/Bayern Munich)
Neymar (Brazil/Barcelona)
Mesut Ozil (Germany/Arsenal)
Dimitri Payet (France/West Ham)
Paul Pogba (France/Juventus/Manchester United)
Sergio Ramos (Spain/Real Madrid)
Alexis Sanchez (Chile/Arsenal)
Luis Suarez (Uruguay/Barcelona)
Jamie Vardy (England/Leicester)
