The big day is here, when FIFA will crown the best player of the World with the prestigious Golden Ball Award, in a ceremony at the Zurich Kongresshaus, in Switzerland.
The Ballon d'Or is French for the words, Golden Ball. The prize was originally awarded by the French magazine, France Football to honor the best football player of the year. The award has been given out since the inaugural edition in 1956.
In 2010, France Football and FIFA merged the Ballon d'Or and the FIFA World Player of the Year as one, with the award carrying the former’s name.
Barcelona and Argentina Forward, Lionel Messi has won the award four times, making him the only footballer to win it the most number of times.
On 29th October last year, FIFA announced a 23man shortlist naming players from around the Globe.
It was finalized to a three man shortlist, and the finalists for the FIFA Ballon d'Or 2013 are:
Cristiano Ronaldo. Lionel Messi and Franck Ribéry
Here is the official video where the finalists were revealed:
German Goalkeeper Nadine Angerer, Brazilian Forward Marta and the American Forward Abby Wambach are the finalists for the FIFA's Women's Player of the Year Award.
Abby Wambach is the reigning FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored an incredible 66 goals from just 56 appearances in all competitions, including eight hat tricks. While Lionel Messi managed to score 42 goals from 45 appearances, he won the Spanish La Liga and the Super Cup. Ribéry scored just 22 Goals from 47 matches, but he did win 5 different trophies in a single calendar year.
Going by the numbers alone, there is no doubt who has performed the best in the World last year. Will this year be in the Real Madrid man's favor?
You can watch the live coverage of the award ceremony on YouTube.
The award ceremony will start at 6:30 PM CET, or 11 PM IST.
That is barely 6 and a half hours from now. May the best players win.