Al-Garrafa striker is among the top 50 footballers in the world, voted by worldwide journalists, after his exploit with the Iraqi team in the 2007 Asian Cup finals.

Mahmoud led the war-torn nation to a shocking Asian Cup triumph, finishing joint top scorer of the tournament and scoring the winning goal against Saudi Arabia in the final.

The 24-year-old is one of two Asians to be named in the list, alongside Japan and Celtic sensation Shunsuke Nakamura.

Other candidates witnessed eight players from world champions Italy, including last year's winner Fabio Cannavaro.

Europe's top scorer last season Francesco Totti, who surprisingly missed out on the FIFA World Player of the Year 30-man shortlist, was included as well.

The Ballon d'Or shortlist

Eric Abidal (Barcelona), France.

Daniel Alves (Sevilla), Brazil.

David Beckham (LA Galaxy), England.

Dimitar Berbatov (Tottenham), Bulgaria.

Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Italy.

Fabio Cannavaro (Real Madrid), Italy.

Iker Casillas (Real Madrid), Spain.

Petr Cech (Chelsea), Czech Republic.

Rogerio Ceni (San Paolo), Brazil.

Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United), Portugal.

Deco (Barcelona), Portugal.

Mahamadou Diarra (Real Madrid), Mali.

Diego (Werder Bremen), Brazil.

Didier Drogba (Chelsea), Ivory Coast.

Michael Essien (Chelsea), Ghana.

Samuel Eto’o (Barcelona), Cameroon.

Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal), Spain.

Gennaro Gattuso (Milan), Italy.

Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), England.

Ryan Giggs (Manchester United), Wales.

Thierry Henry (Barcelona), France.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Inter), Sweden.

Filippo Inzaghi (Milan), Italy.

Kaka` (Milan), Brazil.

Frederic Kanoute` (Sevilla), Mali.

Miroslav Klose (Bayern Munich), Germany.

Youness Mahmoud (Al-Garrafa), Iraq.

Paolo Maldini (Milan), Italy.

Florent Malouda (Chelsea), France.

Lionel Andres Messi (Barcelona), Argentina.

Shunsuke Nakamura (Celtic), Japan.

Guillermo Ochoa (America Mexico), Mexico.

Andrea Pirlo (Milan), Italy.

Ricardo Quaresma (Porto), Portugal.

Raul (Real Madrid), Spain.

Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich), France.

Juan Roman Riquelme (Villarreal), Argentina.

Robinho (Real Madrid), Brazil.

Ronaldinho (Barcelona), Brazil.

Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), England.

Paul Scholes (Manchester United), England.

Clarence Seedorf (Milan), Holland.

Carlos Tevez (Manchester United), Argentina.

Luca Toni (Bayern Munich), Italy.

Kolo Toure` (Arsenal), Ivory Coast.

Fernando Torres (Liverpool), Spain.

Francesco Totti (Roma), Italy.

Ruud van Nistelrooy (Real Madrid), Holland.

Robin van Persie (Arsenal), Holland.

David Villa (Valencia), Spain