Five Premier League players have been included alongside La Liga giants Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi in the shortlist for FIFA's 2015 Ballon d'Or.

Arsenal forward Alexis Sanchez, Chelsea's Eden Hazard and Manchester City trio Sergio Aguero, Kevin De Bruyne and Yaya Toure are the only players from England's top flight to make the 23-man list.

Sixteen of the nominees play for either Barcelona, Real Madrid or Bayern Munich, while Gareth Bale is the only British star to be included in the shortlist.

Bayern's Robert Lewandowski is among the contenders after scoring 12 goals in five games in all competitions, while Barcelona star Luis Suarez and Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba are also nominated.

Ronaldo has taken home the gong in the last two years, but Messi has won football's biggest individual award four times overall.

FIFA's 2015 Ballon d'Or shortlist:

Sergio Aguero (Argentina/Manchester City)
Gareth Bale (Wales/Real Madrid)
Karim Benzema (France/Real Madrid)
Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal/Real Madrid)
Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium/VfL Wolfsburg/Manchester City)
Eden Hazard (Belgium/Chelsea)
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden/Paris Saint-Germain)
Andres Iniesta (Spain/FC Barcelona)
Toni Kroos (Germany/Real Madrid)
Robert Lewandowski (Poland/FC Bayern Munich)
Javier Mascherano (Argentina/FC Barcelona)
Lionel Messi (Argentina/FC Barcelona)
Thomas Muller (Germany/FC Bayern Munich)
Manuel Neuer (Germany/FC Bayern Munich)
Neymar (Brazil/FC Barcelona)
Paul Pogba (France/Juventus)
Ivan Rakitic (Croatia/FC Barcelona)
Arjen Robben (Netherlands/FC Bayern Munich)
James Rodriguez (Colombia/Real Madrid)
Alexis Sanchez (Chile/Arsenal)
Luis Suarez (Uruguay/FC Barcelona)
Yaya Toure (Cote d'Ivoire/Manchester City)
Arturo Vidal (Chile/Juventus/FC Bayern Munich)