Messi, Iniesta, Ronaldo Named FIFA Ballon d'Or 2012 Finalists

Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta and Cristiano Ronaldo have been chosen as the three finalists for this year's Ballon d'Or award.

The Spain-based trio were chosen from a list of 23 candidates with the winner to be announced during a televised event in Zurich on Jan. 7, 2013.

Barcelona and Argentina star Messi is tipped to win the award for a fourth consecutive time having scored 82 goals in the year to date.

He needs just four more to surpass former German great Gerd Muller's 40-year record as the highest goalscorer in a calendar year.

Ronaldo has scored 60 goals across all competitions and led Real Madrid to Spain's La Liga title last season while Iniesta was named player of the tournament in Spain's Euro 2012 triumph in July.