The midfield shortlist includes three World Cup winners, with Germany captain Bastian Schweinsteiger, Toni Kroos and Mesut Ozil each making the cut, as announced by FIFA on Friday:
If you'd like to see this shortlist in video form, here's a youtube link viewable below:
Spanish players have stamped their place on the list however, with Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Xabi Alonso and Cesc Fabregas all in the running for their places in the final lineup, which will be revealed on Jan. 12, 2015.
There are some very notable absentee's from the list however, although some of those mentioned could still feature in the forwards shortlist. Here's a quick look at the main names that have been ommited.
Robben, Ribéry, Oscar, Götze, Verratti, Ramsey, Rakitić, Silva, Cuadrado, Muller.
Many will be suprised that players such as Oscar haven't been included, with the baby-faced brazillian currently registering 3 goals and 3 assists in 10 appearances this season. Although not world-class stats, Oscar has certainly took the critisicm he used to recieve for his 'lethargic' performances last season and turned them on its head.
The Juventus trio of Paul Pogba, Arturo Vidal and Andrea Pirlo also deserve recognition after leading the Bianconeri to their third successive Scudetto, as well as featuring for France, Chile and Italy, respectively, in Brazil.
Not all of those included on the shortlist will be agreed upon, however. Ozil helped Joachim Low's side to their World Cup victory and had a hand in Arsenal's FA Cup triumph, but he endured an underwhelming 12 months on an individual level.
One might suggest either Mario Gotze or Thomas Muller is more deserving. Both of those players featured heavily in Bayern Munich's record-fastest Bundesliga title victory,. While Gotze scored the goal which won Germany the World Cup, Muller played a key role in their competition success. Surely they will both feature on the strikers list.
Di Maria is a well deserved name to include on the list, for his performance in the World cup, helping Real Madrid to win the champions league and his recent performances as of late for United all playing a factor for him to be included.
The final FIFPro XI will consist of names who have performed the best on an individual scale, however, meaning team accomplishments may only count for so much of their final vote count. It will surely be a world class XI when fully revealed in early 2015.