Who Will Win 2016 FIFA Ballon d'Or?

The 2016 FIFA Ballon D’Or will be taking place Monday, and leading the pack right now are Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, a rivalry for the coveted distinction since 2008.

Things is, are Messi and Ronaldo the only ones worthy of vying for the crown?

The Guardian seems to think that a third candidate deserves some attention, with Neymar as the third name that could possibly break the lock on the award easily tied up with Messi and/or Ronaldo.

With the way things stand right now, it seems that the one who will end up winning the award will come from La Liga, someone from Spain. With that in mind, are candidates limited to Spain at this point?

From the looks of it, such could be the scenario, and we can look back all the way to 1997 to back that claim. For fifteen years, the winner of the Ballon d’Or has seen only two players who have not originally played for Spain or at least originated from there. They are Pavel Nedved and Andriy Shevchenko.

Since then, Messi and Ronaldo have been lording it all over, and such brings us back again to the situation that the award will end up in the hands of someone from Spain. Somehow, the reality of seeing that has not sat well with the fans.

By Monday, there is a chance that the award could go to a player who will be on the same club as another candidate. This scenario covers the possibility of seeing Neymar pulling a fast one or maybe even Luis Suarez from Barcelona.

Would such a move be justified especially if one considers the fact that Messi is a strong candidate to snag the award again?

Carles Puyol believes that Messi being passed for the 2016 FIFA Ballon d’Or would be a huge injustice, as mentioned via ESPN FC.

It would be Messi’s fifth award and many feel that he deserves to win it over rival Ronaldo and Neymar for starring in Barca’s five-trophy haul last year. Puyol has played alongside Messi for 10 seasons and believes that he is undoubtedly the best in the field and should be the obvious choice for the award.

"You never know what might end up happening, but it would be a surprise and a huge injustice if Messi was not to win the Ballon d'Or,'' says the former Barcelona captain.

For Puyol, he believes that Messi deserves it and that it may take some time for any other player to bag multiple Ballon D’or awards. Messi won his last (and fourth) Ballon d’Or award in 2012.