Fifa and France Football have announced that Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta and Cristiano Ronaldo are the remaining three candidates to win the 2012 Fifa Ballon d'Or.

The Argentine has netted an impressive 82 goals since January, and needs only three more goals in 2012 to equal Gerd Muller's record of 85 goals for club and country in a calendar year.

Messi helped Barcelona to the Copa del Rey in 2011-12, while also guiding Argentina to top spot in their 2014 World Cup qualification section.

Ronaldo played a key role in Real Madrid's Liga triumph last term with his 46 league goals, and also made it to the semi-finals at Euro 2012 with Portugal.

Iniesta, meanwhile, successfully defended their European title with Spain at Euro 2012, as well as winning the Copa del Rey with Barcelona.

Messi previously won the Ballon d'Or in 2009, while also picking up the prestigious trophy in 2010 and 2011 after it merged with the Fifa World Player of the Year award.

Cristiano Ronaldo came out victorious in 2008, but had to settle for second spot in 2009 and 2011.

Iniesta finished as runner-up in 2010.

Vicente del Bosque, Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho have been nomineed for the Coach of the Year for men’s football award.

Radamel Falcao, Neymar and Miroslav Stoch are still in the running to win the Puskas award for goal of the season.

Marta, Abby Wambach and Alex Morgan are in contention for the Women’s Player of the Year award.

Bruno Bini, Norio Sasaki and Pia Sundhage are the candidates for the Coach of the Year for women's football award.

I like Ronaldo but have to admit that Messi deserves it more than him.

No not this time CR7 has worked hard last year to let Madrid win La Liga so i think people must show more attention to this guy he deserves alot of respect the same goes for Messi.. and Iniesta wasnt so good in the 2011-2012 season but he was amazing at the EURO 2012

Messi iniesta close 2nd

I'm probably going to catch some crap for this but I don't Iniesta should be in the top 3. YES, I know he is a fantastic player, and YES he did excellently in the Euros but CR& is right... he was injured and didn't playe great for a good chunk of last season. 
Personally, I think it should've been Falcao there. He won the Europa LEague and was the highest scorer. He also played excellently for his country and helped dig his team out when they were poor in La Liga. What else does the guy have to do? Alas, he's not from the "fashionable" top 4 teams in the world.

^first sentence grammar mistake :)

@ramaboy: once again your input has been invaluable to our conversation. Thank you.

Anyway, I also think Iniesta, RVP, & Pirlo should fall in 4-6

The best coaches nominees are terrible. How are Conte & Klopp not nominated?
Conte = overacheived with an unbalanced Juve squad. Won 3 cups while finishing the league undefeated
Klopp = Won the Bundesliga & German Cup comfortably while playing excellent football. Are currently topping the hardest UCL group in recent memory. 

Guardiola shouldn't have been nominated. Del Bosque is a good coach but literally coached a hand-full of games with the best NT in the world. Not enough to merit it for me as there is less time and effort put into that. Also, he already won it after the World Cup

Media bias bullshit.

i Am a huge iniesta fan but this Year messi deserves it more than anyone.
Also i want to share this amazing video with you (especially Barca and Messi Fans)

I would be happy if CR7 wins Ballon d'Or. But if will be Messi, I won't be surprised. I would like to see other people challenging for it. Some of the dortmund team or falcao.

This award is so funny to watch. Here is why: people root for their favorite player. They don't care about what the player individually achieved. How can someone win this just because he "deserves" it after missing out on it? This is clearly about the player individual skill and what he achieved on his own. Not how many cups he won in the team. Messi went on to break countless records and is at the door steps of yet another incredible feat. I dont care about a player winning it before or crap like that it's all about who did more to earn this prestigious title. 

I completely agree with Footaholic about everything he said.

iniesta doesnt do will in league games last year but he has monster summer in euro 12 but i prefer falcao or pirlo as the 3 candidate. im rooting for messi for his 3rd consecutive fifa balon d'or award its blasphemous if he doesnt win it 82 goals in a calendar year an counting

honestly its a joke to even consider the possibility that ronaldo or iniesta could win the award. This year messi has been on a completely different level from the both of them and is at the peak of his career possible rising slope still. 

Messi Deserves the title