Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi go head-to-head for Ballon d’Or again

Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo, 31 and current world footballer of the year Lionel Messi, 29 are set to battle it out again for next year's world's best player after they were both named in the 30 man short lists for the 2016 Ballon d'Or award announced on Monday.

Barcelona star Messi, won the prestigious individual single honour for a record fifth time last year, while Ronaldo has won it thrice with former AC Milan midfielder Kaka the only other player to have won it since 2007.

Ronald who inspired Portugal to the Euro 2016 title in France and Real Madrid to the UEFA Champions League glory last season, is favourite to get the award ahead of closest rival Messi who shone last season as Barca won the 2015-16 La Liga title.

Other Madrid stars that made the 30 man short lists includes Gareth Bale, Toni Kroos, Luka Modric, Sergio Ramos and Pepe as Madrid boast the team with more candidates than any other club. 

Messi is also joined by two of his Barcelona team mates, Neymar and Luis Suarez.
 
Manchester United boast two nominee on the lists which includes former Juventus star Paul Pogba whose title-winning exploits with Juventus and his role in France's Euro 2016 runners-up finish and  Zlatan Ibrahimovic owing to his Treble-winning exploits at Paris Saint-Germain last season, during which he scored a record Ligue 1-high 38 goals.

Other premier league clubs whose players were nominated includes; Manchester City's pair of Sergio Aguero and Kevin De Bruyne, Leicester City's duo Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez who is rewarded for his starring role in  the Fox surprise Premier League title win, and Tottenham Hotspur and France goalkeeper Hugo Lloris with West Ham's midfileder Dimitri Payet's making the list.

Founder of the award, France Football Magazine, has been awarding the Ballon d'Or in conjunction with FIFA for the last six years and will this year award the prize alone. 

the magazine increased this year's list from 23 to 30, and will not be reduced to a final shortlist of three, with the winner and the final placings to be revealed by France Football on December 13, 2016.

The 30 man shortlist:
Sergio Aguero (Manchester City/Argentina)
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Borussia Dortmund/Gabon)
Gareth Bale (Real Madrid/Wales)
Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus/Italy)
Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City/Belgium)
Paulo Dybala (Juventus/Argentina)
Diego Godin (Atletico Madrid/Uruguay)
Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid/France)
Gonzalo Higuain (Juventus/Argentina)
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Manchester United/Sweden)
Andres Iniesta (Barcelona/Spain)
Koke (Atletico Madrid/Spain)
Toni Kroos (Real Madrid/Germany)
Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich/Poland)
Hugo Lloris (Tottenham Hotspur/France)
Riyad Mahrez (Leicester City/Algeria)
Lionel Messi (Barcelona/Argentina)
Luka Modric (Real Madrid/Croatia)
Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich/Germany)
Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich/Germany)
Neymar (Barcelona/Brazil)
Dimitri Payet (West Ham/France)
Pepe (Real Madrid/Portugal)
Paul Pogba (Manchester United/France)
Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid/Spain)
Rui Patricio (Sporting/Portugal)
Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid/Portugal)
Luis Suarez (Barcelona/Uruguay)
Jamie Vardy (Leicester City/England)
Arturo Vidal (Bayern Munich/Chile)