Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar will contest the 2015 Ballon d'Or competition after the shortlist was whittled down from 23 names to just three.so who will win the  2015 FIFA Ballon D’Or Award?FIFA Ballon d’Or award ceremony will be announced on Monday, 11th January 2015 in Zurich, Switzerland

This is how the top three players faired in 2015 calendar year

Lionel Messi

The overwhelming favorite to take the prize, and rightly so. Messi endured a disapCoining couple of years by his own incredible high standards, allowing Ronaldo to take the top step on the podium, but he bounced back in brilliant fashion in 2015. The arrival of Suárez  saw Messi revert to the wider, deeper role in which he first burst onto the scene, and it has allowed him be both Barcelona’s chief playmaker while also hardly denting his scoring proficiency. In 48 appearances for Barcelona in 2015, he scored 44 goals, and added 21 assists. The only knock against his year was another failure to bring home a major trophy with his country, asArgentinalost toChilein the final of CopaAmerica. But that should not unduly harm his chances of taking home the trophy, and neither should his recent two-month absence with an ankle injury.

Cristiano Ronaldo

Ronaldo’s statistics still make for mightily impressive reading. In 47 appearances for Real Madrid, he fired 45 goals and added 14 assists. He also helpedPortugalto qualify for Euro 2016. But for his club, it has been a disapCoining year. Falling in the semifinals of the Champions League and finishing runners-up to Barcelona in La Liga left Ronaldo without any silverware. And this season has started poorly for both Ronaldo and his team. As Real Madrid have struggled under Rafael Benitez, the former Manchester United star has failed to assert his usual influence over proceedings, and at the age of 30 there is a sense that he may just have moved past his prime. Rumors of a broken relationship with his manager and openly flirting with a transfer to Paris Saint-Germain also appear to have become a distraction. While still an outstanding goal-scorer, 2015 was not his best year.

Neymar

The talent has always been obvious, but 2015 has been the year that Neymar became a fully realized global superstar. Despite playing in Messi’s team, the Brazilian has still managed to fire 42 goals in 47 appearances for Barcelona. As well as displaying the individual brilliance that first brought him to attention, the 23-year-old has become a vital cog in the team ethic, as his 15 assists demonstrate. More than just the bare statistics, though, are the prizes his goals helped secure. The former Santos starlet scored in the Champions League final, three over the two-legged semifinal and another three in the quarterfinals, as well as netting in the Copa del Rey final.

And while ably supporting Messi for much of the year, Neymar also showed during his illustrious teammate’s recent injury absence that he can be the talisman for a team of Barcelona’s stature, managing to find an even higher level of performance. Like Messi, the only disapCoinment for Neymar came with his country. A petulant sending off in the group stages of the Copa America

deprivedBrazilof their leader for the remainder of the tournament, which ended prematurely at the quarterfinal stage. He more than deserves his place on the podium for the first time, however, and has a good shot of breaking up the Messi and Ronaldo stranglehold on the top two places for the first time since 2010. Still, in what is in large part a popularity contest, Ronaldo’s stature may see him edge Neymar into third.

Predictions: 1. Lionel Messi, 2. Cristiano Ronaldo, 3. Neymar