FIFA football's world governing body has chosen Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Andres Iniesta as the 3 finalists for this year's Ballon d'Or award on Thursday.
They were chosen from a list of 23 candidates. The winner will be announced during a televised event, which will be held in Zurich on January 7, 2013.
Barcelona and Argentina striker Messi has won this award in the past three years consecutively. This year too, he is a strong contender as he has scored 82 goals in the year to date. He needs just four more goals to surpass former German great Gerhard Gerd Muller's 40-year record as the highest goal-scorer in a calendar year.
Ronaldo has scored 60 goals across all competitions and led Real Madrid to Spain's La Liga title last season while Iniesta was named player of the tournament in Spain's Euro 2012 triumph in July.
Jerome Valcke FIFA general secretary said in a press conference that "It shows how strong football in Spain is".
"We have seen again what the national team did at the Euros and it will be interesting to see what happens in the Confederations Cup," he added.
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