Lionel Messi is the most successful player in the planet when it comes to FIFA Ballon d’Or awards.

He has won this accolade five times in his career, which is a new record. His closest competitor still playing the game is Cristiano Ronaldo, who has won the title three times. In the past eight seasons, these two players have shared with the title between each other. Kaka was the last player outside the duo to have won this title. It would be easy to say that Messi has been the best player in the world, but the Barcelona superstar disagrees with this comment.

Barcelona midfielder Ivan Rakitic reckons that a number of players from the Catalan club should have featured in the shortlist for the FIFA Ballon d’Or award.

This award is seen as the ultimate achievement in the life of a professional footballer, as it is awarded to the best player in the world. Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have been sharing the award for almost 8 seasons. Messi has nominated this mini contest with five compared to Ronaldo’s three titles. The 2016 award is likely to go to either of these stars, but the names on the shortlist evoke a lot of talking points.

Since 2008, the FIFA Ballon d’Or, or FIFA World Player of the Year, has been an exclusive club for two of the greatest players of all-time. Cristiano Ronaldo, who has won the award on three occasions, and five-time winner Lionel Messi are the only players to win the prestigious trophy in recent years.

However, all that is about to change and if you’re looking to back a winner, there are more options than ever before. There are plenty of young, talented stars knocking on the door and it’s likely that at least one of those could at least rank alongside Ronaldo and Messi in the final three-man shortlist for 2016. We take a look at a few contenders for future Ballon d’Or awards and give our thoughts on who is most likely to win the trophy.

Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo has claimed that he is not obsessed with the FIFA Ballon d’Or award as everyone thinks he is.

After winning this title for the last two seasons, it is widely anticipated that the Portuguese superstar will hand over the crown to either Lionel Messi or Neymar. Both these players have not only been successful on a personal level, but they have also achieved immensely with their respective clubs last season. Apart from winning the league title, both Neymar and Messi have lifted the Champions League crown with Barcelona.

Manchester City midfielder Yaya Touré says that it is about time that the FIFA Ballon d’Or award started recognising more African players.

The award was created by unifying the FIFA world Player of the Year award with the famous French magazine. Since then, only European-based players have been winning the award. Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are the two that have dominated the list since 2008, but Touré reckons that there have also been many good players. Touré was recently named in the 23 man shortlist for the upcoming awards ceremony that will held in a couple of months.