The defending champions in England, Chelsea, have three players in the list but quite unexpectedly, Diego Costa is not one of them. Man United have two players while their city rivals Man City have four. Arsenal, on the other hand, have only one representative in the list.

The list falls into four main categories, which include goalkeepers, defenders, midfielders and strikers as shown below:

Goalkeepers (5): Gianluigi Buffon (Italy/Juventus), Iker Casillas (Spain/Porto), David De Gea (Spain/Manchester United), Keylor Navas (Costa Rica/Real Madrid) and Manuel Neuer (Germany/Bayern Munich).

Defenders (20): David Alaba (Austria/Bayern Munich), Jordi Alba (Spain/Barcelona), Jerome Boateng (Germany/Bayern Munich), Daniel Carvajal (Spain/Real Madrid), Giorgio Chiellini (Italy/Juventus), Dani Alves (Brazil/Barcelona), David Luiz (Brazil/Paris Saint-Germain), Diego Godin (Uruguay/Atletico Madrid), Mats Hummels (Germany/Borussia Dortmund), Branislav Ivanovic (Serbia/Chelsea), Vincent Kompany (Belgium/Manchester City), Philipp Lahm (Germany/Bayern Munich), Marcelo (Brazil/Real Madrid), Javier Mascherano (Argentina/Barcelona), Pepe (Portugal/Real Madrid), Gerard Pique (Spain/Barcelona), Sergio Ramos (Spain/Real Madrid), John Terry (England/Chelsea), Thiago Silva (Brazil/Paris Saint-Germain) and Raphael Varane (France/Real Madrid).

Midfielders (15): Thiago Alcantara (Spain/Bayern Munich), Xabi Alonso (Spain/Bayern Munich), Sergio Busquets (Spain/Barcelona), Eden Hazard (Belgium/Chelsea), Andres Iniesta (Spain/Barcelona), Toni Kroos (Germany/Real Madrid), Luka Modric (Croatia/Real Madrid), Andrea Pirlo (Italy/New York City), Paul Pogba (France/Juventus), Ivan Rakitic (Croatia/Barcelona), James Rodriguez (Colombia/Real Madrid), David Silva (Spain/Manchester City),Yaya Toure (Ivory Coast/Manchester City), Marco Verratti (Italy/Paris Saint-Germain) and Arturo Vidal (Chile/Bayern Munich).

Forwards (15): Sergio Aguero (Argentina/Manchester City), Gareth Bale (Wales/Real Madrid), Karim Benzema (France/Real Madrid), Douglas Costa (Brazil/Bayern Munich), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal/Real Madrid), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden/Paris Saint-Germain), Robert Lewandowski (Poland/Bayern Munich), Lionel Messi (Argentina/Barcelona), Thomas Muller (Germany/Bayern Munich), Neymar (Brazil/Barcelona), Arjen Robben (Netherlands/Bayern Munich), Wayne Rooney (England/Manchester United), Alexis Sánchez (Chile/Arsenal), Luis Suarez (Uruguay/Barcelona) and Carlos Tevez (Argentina/Boca Juniors).

The award was created to honor the best 11 players of the year. Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo and Barcelona’s Lionel Messi have featured eight times each in the award, the highest record in its history. The winners will be announced on January 11, 2016, at the Ballon d’Or ceremony in Zurich.