Zidane retired from soccer after France lost to Italy [ Images ] in the final on July 9, his career seemingly ending in disgrace following his head-butt on defender Marco Materazzi 10 minutes before the end of extra time.

The incident ensured he missed the penalty shootout that decided the match in Italy's favour.

Zidane, Barcelona's [ Images ] Brazilian playmaker Ronaldinho [ Images ] and Inter Milan's [ Images ] Portuguese midfielder Luis Figo are the only men on the shortlist to have previously won the FIFA award.

Ronaldinho is bidding to lift the trophy for the third year in a row.

Zidane has already landed the honour three times, as a Juventus [ Images ] player in 1998 and 2000 and with Real Madrid [ Images ] in 2003. Figo won the award in 2001 during his time with Real Madrid.

Premier League champions Chelsea [ Images ] are the most represented club with six players on the shortlist: England's [ Images ] Frank Lampard [ Images ], Petr Cech [ Images ] of Czech Republic, Ghana's Michael Essien [ Images ], Didier Drogba [ Images ] of Ivory Coast, Germany's [ Images ] Michael Ballack [ Images ] and Ukrainian Andriy Shevchenko.

Also on the list are Brazilians Adriano and Kaka [ Images ] along with Miroslav Klose [ Images ], Jens Lehmann and Philipp Lahm [ Images ] of Germany.

World champions Italy are represented by Gianluigi Buffon, Fabio Cannavaro, Gennaro Gattuso [ Images ], Alessandro Nesta and Andrea Pirlo.

The other French players on the shortlist apart from Zidane are Lilian Thuram, Patrick Vieira, Franck Ribery [ Images ] and Thierry Henry [ Images ].

Portugal pair Cristiano Ronaldo [ Images ] and Deco [ Images ] are also among the candidates for the award, as is Cameroon striker Samuel Eto'o, England pair Steven Gerrard [ Images ] and Wayne Rooney [ Images ], Argentina playmaker Juan Roman Riquelme and Czech midfielder Tomas Rosicky.

The winner will be announced in Zurich on Dec. 18.