Ghana’s Ayew, Atsu in FIFA’s Ballon d’Or list

Andre Ayew and his Black Stars of Ghana teammate, Christian Atsu, have been named in the preliminary list for the 2015 FIFA Ballon d’Or shortlist.

But FIFA is yet to officially confirm the 59 long list which includes Ivory Coast stars Wilfried Bony and Yaya Toure.

Barcelona and Real Madrid both have seven players nominated while Juventus have six players included.

Manchester City have five players named, although two of these – Kevin de Bruyne and Nicolas Otamendi – were largely included for efforts with their former clubs, Wolfsburg and Valencia respectively.

Just two English players – Wayne Rooney and Harry Kane – are named, and there are also only two Italian players, Andrea Pirlo and Giorgio Chiellini.

The long-list of 59, from which a 23-man shortlist will be chosen in December, was compiled by France Football, the traditional hosts of the award, and FIFA’s Football Committee, which includes the likes of UEFA President Michel Platini, as well as Franz Beckenbauer and Pele.

The final vote will be by every international manager and captain.

THE BALLON D’OR LONG LIST IN FULL

Claudio Bravo – Barcelona

Javier Mascherano – Barcelona

Andres Iniesta – Barcelona

Lionel Messi – Barcelona

Ivan Rakitic – Barcelona

Neymar – Barcelona

Luis Suarez – Barcelona

Gareth Bale – Real Madrid

Karim Benzema – Real Madrid

Sergio Ramos – Real Madrid

Cristiano Ronaldo – Real Madrid

Luka Modric – Real Madrid

James Rodriguez – Real Madrid

Toni Kroos – Real Madrid

Giorgio Chiellini – Juventus

Paul Pogba – Juventus

Alvaro Morata – Juventus

Arturo Vidal – Juventus/Bayern

Andrea Pirlo – Juventus/New York City FC

Carlos Tevez – Juventus/Boca Juniors

Robert Lewandowski – Bayern

Arjen Robben – Bayern

David Alaba – Bayern

Thomas Muller – Bayern

Manuel Neuer – Bayern

Wilfried Bony – Manchester City

Yaya Toure – Manchester City

Sergio Aguero – Manchester City

Nicolas Otamendi – Valencia/Manchester City

Kevin de Bruyne – Wolfsburg/Manchester City

Diego Costa – Chelsea

Willian – Chelsea

Thibaut Courtois – Chelsea

Eden Hazard – Chelsea

Edinson Cavani – PSG

Zlatan Ibrahimovic – PSG

Javier Pastore – PSG

Wayne Rooney – Manchester United

David de Gea – Manchester United

Memphis Depay – PSV/Manchester United

David Ospina – Arsenal

Alexis Sanchez – Arsenal

Antoine Griezmann – Atletico Madrid

Jackson Martinez – Porto/Atletico Madrid

Carlos Bacca – Sevilla/Milan

Giovani dos Santos – Villarreal/LA Galaxy

Philippe Coutinho – Liverpool

Son Heung-min – Bayer Leverkusen/Tottenham

Christian Atsu – Everton/Bournemouth

Paolo Guerrero – Flamengo/Corinthians

Eduardo Vargas – QPR/Hoffenheim

Gary Medel – Internazionale

Harry Kane – Tottenham

Alexandre Lacazette – Lyon

Andres Guardado – PSV

Carlos Sánchez – River Plate

Andre Ayew – Marseille/Swansea

Massimo Luongo – Swindon/QPR

Shinji Okazaki – Mainz/Leicester