FIFA Ballon d'Or shortlist: Making a case for every contender

The 23 men with a chance at procuring the greatest individual accolade the sport has to offer were revealed Tuesday, when the shortlist for the 2015 FIFA Ballon d'Or was revealed.

Here, we highlight one reason why each contender could hoist the iconic golden trophy:

Note: Players are listed in alphabetical order

Sergio Aguero - Manchester City, Argentina

Why he should win: The Premier League's most prolific scorer found the net 26 times in the 2014-15 campaign, and is arguably the world's most complete, out-and-out striker. Just imagine what he could accomplish if consistently healthy.

Gareth Bale - Real Madrid, Wales

Why he should win: Because carrying an entire country on your back - and being Real Madrid's best player not named Cristiano Ronaldo - is no simple task.

Karim Benzema - Real Madrid, France

Why he should win: The argument could be made that he's Real Madrid's most important player. (It's not a popular argument per se, but it's floating out there).

Cristiano Ronaldo - Real Madrid, Portugal

Why he should win: Because the most difficult thing to do in the sport is score goals, and he does it more frequently than anybody else - 61 in all competitions last season, which is decidedly ludicrous.

Kevin De Bruyne - Manchester City, Belgium

Why he should win: Hands up if you expected Wolfsburg to be an attacking juggernaut last season. (De Bruyne was the reason for that). Also, put your hand down, you liar.

Eden Hazard - Chelsea, Belgium

Why he should win: Being the best player in the Premier League last season - and it wasn't close - has to count for something, right?

Zlatan Ibrahimovic - Paris Saint-Germain, France

Why he should win: He's Zlatan. He always wins.

Andres Iniesta - Barcelona, Spain

Why he should win: You can count on one hand the number of players who rival Iniesta's ability to make the ball look like it's attached to a string.

Toni Kroos - Real Madrid, Germany

Why he should win: More than most players, it comes as a surprise whenever the German midfielder makes a mistake or misplaces a pass. Consistent doesn't even begin to describe his game.

Robert Lewandowski - Bayern Munich, Poland

Why he should win: Recency bias may help his cause here, as everything the Polish star has touched of late turns to gold.

Javier Mascherano - Barcelona, Argentina

Why he should win: Because in a world where individual accolades always end up in the gracious arms of attacking players, defensive-minded stalwarts deserve some love too, dammit.

Lionel Messi - Barcelona, Argentina

Why he should win: Because he's the best, most exciting player on Earth. Messi scored 58 goals in all competitions in 2014-15, many of the absurd variety, and led his team to a treble. It'll be nothing short of a travesty if the diminutive Argentine doesn't hoist the hardware.

Thomas Muller - Bayern Munich, Germany

Why he should win: No player in the game today accomplishes more with less raw physical talent than Muller. That's a compliment, by the way.

Manuel Neuer - Bayern Munich, Germany

Why he should win: He's the best goalkeeper consuming oxygen at the moment. (Just ask Theo Walcott).

Neymar - Barcelona, Brazil

Why he should win: Neymar is the answer to the oft-asked question: who is the best player not named Ronaldo or Messi? He's going to win this award at some point - and likely multiple times - so why not get an early start? Also, he's doing all this at only 23 years old.

Paul Pogba - Juventus, France

Why he should win: Because 22-year-old's aren't supposed to be this good.

Ivan Rakitic - Barcelona, Croatia

Why he should win: He made a lot of people forget about Xavi pretty darn quickly. Rakitic's presence is the reason the Spanish legend is playing in Qatar at the moment. That alone is worthy of some kind of silverware.

Arjen Robben - Bayern Munich, Netherlands

Why he should win: Because, even after all these years, nobody can stop him from cutting in on his left foot after flying down the right wing.

James Rodriguez - Real Madrid, Colombia

Why he should win: He lived up to the obscene hype that accompanied his post-World Cup move to Real Madrid, and is quickly establishing himself as one of the premier playmakers around.

Alexis Sanchez - Arsenal, Chile

Why he should win: Winning trophies, particularly at the international level, resonate heavily with people, and Sanchez was the driving force behind Chile's historic Copa America triumph.

Luis Suarez - Barcelona, Uruguay

Why he should win: The argument can be made that Suarez had the single-greatest impact on any team in the world last season. Together, Messi and Neymar were great. Once Suarez entered the fold, the Barcelona attack evolved into the most dominant force we've ever seen.

Yaya Toure - Manchester City, Ivory Coast

Why he should win: Because even a supposed down year from the African superstar is better than most footballers can even dream about.

Arturo Vidal - Bayern Munich, Chile

Why he should win: Perhaps the most complete midfielder in the game today, Vidal is among the names bandied about when the topic of the world's best all-around player is broached.