Algeria winger, Riyad Mahrez, is the only African in contention for the 2016 Best FIFA Men’s Player award.
The Leicester City superstar, who faces Nigeria’s Super Eagles next week in a 2018 World Cup qualifier, will battle it out with 22 other nominees which include teammate, Jamie Vardy; Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
The accolade is a replacement for the Ballon d’Or after the football governing body separated itself from French magazine, L’equipe.
N’Golo Kante – now of Chelsea and former teammate of the Algerian is also shortlisted.
Sergio Aguero, Gareth Bale, Antoine Griezmann, Paul Pogba and Luis Suarez are all on the 23-man shortlist, as is West Ham midfielder, Dimitri Payet.
Sergio Ramos is the only defender on the list, as Atletico Madrid’s Diego Godin – who was nominated for the Ballon d’Or – misses out, along with Pepe, who won both the Champions League and Euro 2016.
Borussia Dortmund striker, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Juventus duo, Gonzalo Higuain and Paulo Dybal,a as well as Bayern Munich pair, Thomas Muller and Arturo Vidal, also missed out on nominations, despite making the Ballon d’Or shortlist.
Similarly, goalkeepers Hugo Lloris and Rui Patricio fail to make the list, as does Atletico Madrid star, Koke.
The list was decided by a FIFA panel of experts known as the FIFA Football Committee, with the winner to be decided by a vote split between national team captains and players, selected media representatives and a global fan poll.
Best FIFA Men’s Player 2016 shortlist:
Sergio Aguero, Gareth Bale, Gianluigi Buffon, Kevin De Bruyne, Antoine Griezmann, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Andres Iniesta, N’Golo Kante, Toni Kroos, Robert Lewandowski, Riyad Mahrez, Lionel Messi, Luka Modric, Manuel Neuer, Neymar, Mesut Ozil, Dimitri Payet, Paul Pogba, Sergio Ramos, Cristiano Ronaldo, Alexis Sanchez, Luis Suarez, Jamie Vardy.
