The 23 candidates:

Gareth Bale (Wales) - Real Madrid
Edinson Cavani (Uruguay) - PSG
Radamel Falcao (Colombia) - Monaco
Eden Hazard (Belgium) - Chelsea
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden) - PSG
Andrés Iniesta (Spain) - Barcelona
Philipp Lahm (Germany) - Bayern München
Robert Lewandowski (Poland) - Borussia Dortmund
Lionel Messi (Argentina) - Barcelona
Thomas Müller (Germany) - Bayern München
Manuel Neuer (Germany) - Bayern München
Neymar (Brazil) - Barcelona
Mesut Özil (Germany) - Arsenal
Andrea Pirlo (Italy) - Juventus
Franck Ribéry (France) - Bayern München
Arjen Robben (Netherlands) - Bayern München
Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) - Real Madrid
Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany) - Bayern München
Luis Suárez (Uruguay) - Liverpool
Thiago Silva (Brazil) - PSG
Yaya Touré (Côte d'Ivoire) - Manchester City
Robin van Persie (Netherlands) - Manchester United
Xavi (Spain) - Barcelona

Where's Rooney?

Xavi OUT - Gundogan IN.
Robben OUT - Reus IN

Ribery to win. W/o a doubt

@Don: That'd make 7 Germans, however I agree given how dominant they were in the Champions League and the huge pack of talent they've got.

is Reus too good to be on this list or what?

Ribéry will win.
If not, only Ibrahimovic deserves it for his awesomeness.

don't take this too seriously but, i just must post this.

Riberryyy!!!

^^

Zlatan for Ballon d'Or!!!

How the hell Zlatan deserves the Ballon d'or?

Zlatan deserves it all the way! But right now contenders like him, Ribery and Ronaldo don't have a secured spot in the WC. Has any player won the award after not qualifying to the World cup? I believe if Zlatan Ronaldo or Ribery dont get to the WC that would affect a lot their chances of winning it...

It would be a crime to give this year's Ballon d'Or to anyone but Franck Ribery.

Lahm and Schweinsteiger deserve it more if it should be given to a Bayern player for what the team achieved.
They were amazing during all the season and not only the 3 last months like Ribery.Especially Lahm!!
Ribery is just given more credits as he is the "star player"

^ Ribery only amazing for the three last months? Where have YOU been? O.o

@DonAndres I think you are high and should start watching some German League games :) When Jupp Henkjeys (or something) was manager Ribery was on FIRE. And still is.

@dy and rama: he stated "during all the season and NOT only the last 3 months" that is implying they have been phenomenal the past season and this one as well.

@Dynastian98
I am talking about 2012-2013 season.
Ribery was not performing so amazingly untill February.
Then he turned into the beast he is till now!

@ramaboy10
You are not able to know how many bundesliga games i have watched so let these type of comments.
Ribery was on fire from February.He is still in top form though.
Lahm and Tiger were from the beggining of the season we are talking about.

^ Lol Andres Ribery is not the star, he is The Kaiser of Munich actually and its very different, he is the player who influence the most the games....
Lets talk stats :
Ribery only missed 8 games in 2013 with Bayern.

Bayern with Ribery : 33W/3D/0L %Victory 92
Bayern without Ribery : 5W/1D/2L %Victory 63

Ribery (14 goals, 16 assists in 35 games ) is not the best scorer of Bayern in 2013 ( Muller 19 goals ), he is not the best assister ( Robben 17 assists ) but he is the only player undefeated with Bayern since the start of the season, and there is a big difference when he plays, Bayern are not the same.

KaiserFranck deserves the Ballon d Or this year, Messi has the best potential but not the best season.

I didnt say anything about Messi.
I hate it that defenders like Lahm or even some midfielders have no chance of winning it!