See The Shortlist For The FIFA Ballon D’Or Award (Gareth Bale And Aubameyang In List)

Real Madrid team-mates Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo have been confirmed on the 30-man shortlist for the 2016 Ballon d’Or.

France Football have announced the first 10 players in contention for the prize, awarded last year to Barcelona forward Lionel Messi.

Borussia Dortmund striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Manchester City duo Sergio Aguero and Kevin De Bruyne, and Juventus trio Paulo Dybala, Gonzalo Higuain and Gianluigi Buffon also join Bale and Ronaldo.

Atletico Madrid’s Diego Godin and Antoine Griezmann complete the shortlist as it stands, with the remaining 20 names revealed later on Monday.

Bale and Ronaldo starred for Wales and Portugal respectively at Euro 2016, and helped Real Madrid win their second Champions League in three years in May.

This year’s edition of the prestigious individual prize will be judged solely by a panel of journalists after FIFA and France Football ended their partnership.

Between 2010 and 2015, FIFA’s World Player of the Year award had been combined with the Ballon d’Or to create the FIFA Ballon d’Or, which was decided by a combination of votes from national team managers, captains and journalists.

2016 Ballon d’Or shortlist (20 more names to be announced soon)

Sergio Aguero (Man City)
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Borussia Dortmund)
Gareth Bale (Real Madrid)

Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus)

Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)

Kevin De Bruyne (Man City)

Paulo Dybala (Juventus)

Diego Godin (Atletico Madrid)

Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid)

Gonzalo Higuain (Juventus)