Before tonight no players from the Bundesliga or France's Ligue 1 had ever been selected in the Fifa team of the year. Remarkable.

There are no men from the Premier League for a second straight year. Manchester United pair Nemanja Vidic and Wayne Rooney were the last Premier League players to be named in a Fifa team of the year, taking their place in the 2011 selection., external

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"If you three played together in one team who would be top scorer," Ruud Gullit asks Messi, Ronaldo and Ibrahimovic.

Zlatan, a man not usually known for his outstanding humility, concedes that he would bag less than his two rivals.

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Panic over Lionel - you are in.

Forwards:

Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid and Portugal)

Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Paris St-Germain and Sweden)

Lionel Messi (Barcelona and Argentina)

Midfielders:

Xavi (Barcelona and Spain)

Andres Iniesta (Barcelona and Spain)

Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich and France)

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Lionel Messi looks a little nervous as he sits in the audience with a beautiful lady who is presumably Mrs Messi. Sweating on his place in the Fifpro XI perhaps?

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Defenders:

Dani Alves (Barcelona and Brazil)

Philipp Lahm (Bayern Munich and Germany)

Thiago Silva (Paris St-Germain and Brazil)

Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid and Spain)

We are straight into the action with the unveiling of the Fifpro World XI - 2013's team of the year.

Goalkeeper:

Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich and Germany)

A cheeky smile breaks across Ruud Gullit's face as he makes a lame gag about being nominated for the Puskas Award - the goal of 2013 - for his stunning 1998 volley for AC Milan. Stick to the script Ruud...

All six nominees for the Ballon d'Or and the Women's World Player of the Year are present in Zurich, Ruud Gullit handily tells us. The candidates stroll out on to the stage in pairs and are introduced as the "best six players in the world" by the Dutchman.

Right here we go folks - it is kick-off. Fernanda Lima - a Brazilian model I'm told - and former Netherlands hero Ruud Gullit are presenting the action. Ruud doesn't look as comfortable reading an autocue as he did with a football at his feet....

BBC Radio 5 live senior football reporter Ian Dennis at Villa Park

As well as the excitement about the Ballon d'Or, let's not forget there is a big Premier League game taking place later...

"Home, sweet home. It's hardly something Aston Villa fans can relate to now, or indeed Arsenal supporters back in August after Villa's 3-1 opening-day victory at the Emirates.

"The mood has certainly changed for Arsenal since that calamitous day when supporters vented their fury at Arsene Wenger and the board.

"The negativity has subsided and, although Theo Walcott's serious knee injury has tempered the mood, Arsenal have entered 2014 with real optimism. The same can't be said of Aston Villa."

After a Special Award - the detail of which is as mysterious as the name suggests - we get down to the nitty gritty.

The penultimate award goes to the women's world player of the year, which is a straight fight between Germany goalkeeper Nadine Angerer, Brazil forward Marta and USA striker Abby Wambach.

Marpreet: I think Ronaldo deserves it with 68 goals last year which is quite incredible, Messi's injuries let him down.

Daniel Smith: It's Cristiano's year, whether Messi has been injured or not.

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This award - named after legendary Hungary and Real Madrid striker Ferenc Puskas - is given to the player who scored 2013's most spectacular goal.

The three nominees are:

Sweden striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic for his long-range overhead kick against England.

Chelsea target Nemanja Matic for a thumping volley for Benfica against Porto.

Brazil attacker Neymar's goal against Japan to open the Confederations Cup in Brazil.

If that award was going in 1995 then Tony Yeboah would have won it hands down...

Logan from Basingstoke: Only one man for me and that's Ronaldo. Not only did he perform admirably for Real Madrid during 2013, but his performances for Portugal were also exceptional. Pure brilliance.

Andy, London: Ballon d'Or should go to Ronaldo but Zlatan should at least have been on the shortlist!!

Stu in Twyford: Personally, I feel that Arjen Robben would have been a more worthy nomination than Ribery... though I fully expect that Ronaldo will win, he deserves it!

Every year, Fifa hand over a prize to "persons or institutions for their fair play, an issue that has always been of crucial significance to world football's governing body".

Introduced in 1987, the award has been given to fans, associations and individual players in the past. The Uzbekistan FA won last year's prize and their successors will be named in the fourth prize of the night.

There's a buzz of chatter and excitement in Zurich's Kongresshaus as the stars are called to their seats. The ceremony is set to begin in about 15 minutes.

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The shortlist for the men's coach of the year is Sir Alex Ferguson, Jupp Heynckes and Borussia Dortmund boss Jurgen Klopp.

Ferguson led Manchester United to his 13th Premier League title before retiring. Heynckes won the treble with Bayern Munich before making way for Pep Guardiola and Klopp led Dortmund to the Champions League final and second in the German league, being beaten by Bayern on both occasions.

Ferguson is not present in Zurich tonight - he is kicking back on the sunshine island of Barbados with his family. And, er, 1980s comedian Russ Abbott..., external

Stellar names of the past and present have wandered down the red carpet, with ex-Liverpool and France boss Gerard Houllier wandering in shortly behind Paris St Germain striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The Sweden skipper scrubs up well in his tux - not had a shave though. Tut tut.

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Third on the schedule is the women's world coach award.

Wolfsburg's Ralf Kellermann, Germany boss Silvia Neid and Sweden coach Pia Sundhage are the final three this year.

Wolfsburg won the treble, while Germany won the European Championship and Sweden reached the semi-final. Former USA coach Sundhage was last year's winner.