Zidane, who was sent-off in the World Cup final against Italy for his infamous head-butt on defender Marco Materazzi, announced his retirement after the end of the tournament.

The former Juventus and Real Madrid playmaker will be in the run for a fourth award after he was crowned the world's best player in 1998, 2000 and 2003.

France's other players on the shortlist are Thierry Henry, Lilian Thuram, Patrick Vieira and Franck Ribery.

Although Brazilian star Ronaldinho was below-par in the World Cup, he is a strong candidate to retain the award which he won in the last two occasions.

Ronaldinho's compatriots Kaka and Adriano are also named while world champions Italy are represented with five players.

Fabio Cannavaro, Gianluigi Buffon, Gennaro Gattuso, Alessandro Nesta and Andrea Pirlo are Azzurri's candidates.

English champions Chelsea are the most represented club with six nominees: Michael Ballack, Didier Drogba, Andriy Shevchenko, Frank Lampard, Michael Essien and Petr Cech.

The winner will be presented on the 18th of December in Switzerland.

The full list:

Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus, Italy), Petr Cech (Chelsea, Czech Republic), Jens Lehmann (Arsenal, Germany).

Defenders: Fabio Cannavaro (Real Madrid, Italy), Philippe Lahm (Bayern Munich, Germany), Alessandro Nesta (AC Milan, Italy), Lilian Thuram (Barcelona, France),

Midfielders: Michael Ballack (Chelsea, Germany), Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United, Portugal), Deco (Barcelona, Portugal), Michael Essien (Chelsea, Ghana), Luis Figo (Inter Milan, Portugal), Gennaro Gattuso (AC Milan, Italy), Kaka (AC Milan, Brazil), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool, England), Frank Lampard (Chelsea, England), Andrea Pirlo (AC Milan, Italy), Franck Ribery (Marseille, France), Juan Roman Riquelme (Villarreal, Argentina), Tomas Rosicky (Arsenal, Czech Republic), Patrick Vieira (Inter Milan, France), Zinedine Zidane (retired, France).

Strikers: Adriano (Inter Milan, Brazil), Samuel Eto'o (Barcelona, Cameroon), Didier Drogba (Chelsea, Ivory Coast), Ronaldinho (Barcelona, Brazil), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United, England), Andriy Shevchenko (Chelsea, Ukraine), Thierry Henry (Arsenal, France), Miroslav Klose (Werder Bremen, Germany)