Cristiano Ronaldo was announced alongside Real Madrid team-mate Gareth Bale among the first nominees for the 2016 Ballon d’Or on Monday. The Portuguese forward and Barcelona’s Lionel Messi have monopolised the gong since 2008—Ronaldo winning it three times and Messi five—and the Real star is a strong favourite to prevail again this year. Messi was added to the list of nominees Monday night. See the full list after the break
| Player | Club |
| Sergio Aguero | Manchester City |
| Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang | Borussia Dortmund |
| Gareth Bale | Real Madrid |
| Gianluigi Buffon | Juventus |
| Cristiano Ronaldo | Real Madrid |
| Kevin De Bruyne | Manchester City |
| Paulo Dybala | Juventus |
| Diego Godin | Atletico Madrid |
| Antoine Griezmann | Atletico Madrid |
| Gonzalo Higuain | Juventus |
| Zlatan Ibrahimovic | Manchester United |
| Andres Iniesta | Barcelona |
| Koke | Atletico Madrid |
| Toni Kroos | Real Madrid |
| Robert Lewandowski | Bayern Munich |
| Hugo Lloris | Tottenham |
| Lionel Messi | Barcelona |
| Riyad Mahrez | Leicester City |
| Luka Modric | Real Madrid |
| Thomas Muller | Bayern Munich |
| Manuel Neuer | Bayern Munich |
| Neymar | Barcelona |
| Dimitri Payet | West Ham United |
| Pepe | Real Madrid |
| Paul Pogba | Manchester United |
| Rui Patricio | Sporting Cp |
| Sergio Ramos | Real Madrid |
| Luis Suarez | Barcelona |
| Jamie Vardy | Leicester City |
| Arturo Vidal | Bayern Munich |