Ronaldo, Messi headline Ballon d'Or shortlist; Vardy gets surprise nod

The 30-man shortlist for the 2016 Ballon d'Or award has, mercifully, been revealed, after France Football milked the announcement for all its worth by unveiling the superstar grouping in bunches of five on Monday.

The predictable faces of Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Neymar, Gareth Bale, and Andres Iniesta all garnered a spot, among a host of their spectacular peers.

Superstars Antoine Griezmann and Paul Pogba were also included, while Juventus' 38-year-old shot-stopper Gianluigi Buffon continues to defy age by earning a nod.

Ronaldo, 31, is the favourite to hoist the coveted golden spheroid after an outstanding summer in which he lead Real Madrid to a Champions League title before helping Portugal claim its first-ever European Championship.

A victory for the Portuguese would be his fourth.

Messi, his perennial rival, holds the all-time record with five Ballon d'Or wins - including last year's victory, when he regained the crown from Ronaldo.

France Football has been handing out the hardware every year since 1956 and had been in association with FIFA for the past six years, with the two bodies working in conjunction to create the FIFA Ballon d'Or.

Earlier this year, however, the two sides parted ways, leaving the French magazine to revert to its original task of awarding the honour on its own.

Related: France Football splits with FIFA over Ballon d'Or

The complete list of nominees is as follows:

Sergio Aguero (Manchester City), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Borussia Dortmund), Gareth Bale (Real Madrid), Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid), Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City), Paulo Dybala (Juventus), Diego Godin (Atletico Madrid), Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid), Gonzalo Higuain (Juventus), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Manchester United), Andres Iniesta (Barcelona), Koke (Atletico Madrid), Toni Kroos (Real Madrid), Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich), Hugo Lloris (Tottenham), Riyad Mahrez (Leicester City), Lionel Messi, (Barcelona), Luka Modric (Real Madrid), Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich), Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich), Neymar (Barcelona), Dimitri Payet (West Ham), Pepe (Real Madrid), Paul Pogba (Manchester United), Rui Patricio (Sporting Lisbon), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Luis Suarez (Barcelona), Jamie Vardy (Leicester City), Arturo Vidal (Bayern Munich).

The 30-man list will be trimmed to a trio of finalists before a winner is crowned on Dec. 13.