Gareth Bale in running for world player of the year award

World record signing Gareth Bale is on the 23-man shortlist for the Fifa men's world footballer of the year award

Wales forward Bale, 24, scored 26 goals for Tottenham last season before an £85m move to Real Madrid in the summer.

Five Premier League players in Eden Hazard, Mesut Ozil, Luis Suarez, Yaya Toure and Robin van Persie have also been nominated for the Ballon d'Or.

Barcelona's Lionel Messi will be looking to retain the award he has won for four years running.

Messi's club team-mates Andres Iniesta, Neymar - who moved to the Nou Camp from Santos in the summer - and Xavi also make the shortlist, as does Cristiano Ronaldo of Real Madrid.

Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney made the shortlist last year but has failed to do so this time, with no player from England, Scotland or Northern Ireland represented in the final 23.

Bayern Munich beat Barcelona on the way to winning the Champions League last season and they have six players up for the award.

The 23-man list will be whittled down to three in December before the winners will be announced on 13 January, 2014 in Zurich.

In terms of countries, Germany have the most players nominated with five, while Brazil, Netherlands, Spain and Uruguay have two apiece.

Argentina, Belgium, Colombia, France, Italy, Ivory Coast, Poland, Portugal, Sweden and Wales each have one of their players in contention.

Bayern claimed the German league title and German Cup as they completed the treble in 2012-13 and their coach Jupp Heynckes, who has since been replaced by Pep Guardiola, is up for the coach of the year award.

Former Manchester United coach Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsenal's Arsene Wenger, Chelsea's Jose Mourinho and Napoli's Rafael Benitez are also part of the 10-man list in the running for coach of the year.

Benitez led Chelsea to the Europa League trophy last season before leaving for Napoli and being replaced at Stamford Bridge by Mourinho, who left Real Madrid in the summer after failing to win the La Liga or Champions League.

The winners will be voted for by the captains and head coaches of the men's national teams as well as by international media representatives selected by France Football magazine.

France Football started the Ballon d'Or to honour the European footballer of the year and England's Stanley Matthews was the first winner in 1956.

In 2007 the award became a world player gong and three years later it merged with Fifa's own world player honour.

Fifa world men's player of the year shortlist: Gareth Bale (Real Madrid/Wales), Edinson Cavani (Paris St-Germain/Uruguay), Radamel Falcao (Monaco/Colombia), Eden Hazard (Chelsea/Belgium), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Paris St-Germain/Sweden), Andres Iniesta (Barcelona/Spain), Philipp Lahm (Bayern Munich/Germany), Robert Lewandowski (Borussia Dortmund/Poland), Lionel Messi (Barcelona/Argentina), Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich/Germany), Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich/Germany), Neymar (Barcelona/Brazil), Mesut Ozil (Arsenal/Germany), Andrea Pirlo (Juventus/Italy), Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich/France), Arjen Robben (Bayern Munich/Netherlands), Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid/Portugal), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich/Germany), Luis Suarez (Liverpool/Uruguay), Thiago Silva (Paris St-Germain/Brazil), Yaya Toure (Manchester City/Ivory Coast), Robin Van Persie (Manchester United/Netherlands), Xavi (Barcelona/Spain).

Fifa coach of the year shortlist: Carlo Ancelotti (Real Madrid), Rafael Benítez (Napoli), Antonio Conte (Juventus), Vicente Del Bosque (Spain), Sir Alex Ferguson (Manchester United's former manager), Jupp Heynckes (Bayern Munich's former coach), Jurgen Klopp (Borussia Dortmund), Jose Mourinho (Chelsea), Luiz Felipe Scolari (Brazil), Arsene Wenger (Arsenal).