The countdown continues: three weeks to go

Today marks exactly three weeks until the footballing world eagerly turns its attention to Zurich’s Kongresshaus as the curtain rises on the FIFA Ballon d’Or Gala. This milestone provides an ideal opportunity for FIFA.com to start the week with a striking statistic about the beautiful game’s most prestigious individual award.

3 The final three-man shortlists for the FIFA Ballon d’Or (since 2010) and FIFA World Player of the Year (1991 to 2009) have been composed entirely of players from three continents: Europe, South America and Africa. Representatives from the latter have reached the top three on three occasions: Liberian striker George Weah won the award in 1995 and came second the following year, while Cameroon forward Samuel Eto’o finished third in 2005.

The 23-strong preliminary shortlist for the FIFA Ballon d’Or 2015 included one African player, Côte d’Ivoire midfielder Yaya Toure, with Argentinian talisman Lionel Messi, Brazil’s Neymar and Portuguese maestro Cristiano Ronaldo ultimately making the final trio. All that remains is to discover which of these three stars will be recognised as the world’s best player over the past 12 months on 11 January 2016.

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