Goalkeeper Iker Casillas, midfielders Cesc Fabregas, Andres Iniesta and Xavi and strikers Fernando Torres and David Villa are all on the 23-man shortlist which was revealed on Wednesday.

Valencia's Villa finished the tournament as top-scorer with four goals, while Liverpool hitman Torres scored the winner in Spain's 1-0 victory over Germany in the final.

There has never been a Spanish winner of the award since its introduction in 1991.

FIFA will reveal the top three at the start of December before the overall winner is announced on January 12 next year.

Last year's winner Kaka is also on the shortlist, as are Barcelona forward Lionel Messi and Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo, who finished second and third respectively in 2007.

Chelsea are the best represented club on the list with five players, while Barcelona have four.

The best represented league is the English Premier League with 10 players, while there are eight from Spain'sPrimera Liga, three from Serie A and one each from the Bundesliga and Russia's Premier Liga.

As well as the Spaniards, there are three English players, two Portuguese, two Argentinians and one each from Italy, France, Germany, Holland, Russia, Sweden, Brazil, Togo, Ivory Coast and Cameroon.

Shortlist for FIFA World Player award: Emmanuel Adebayor (Togo), Sergio Aguero (Argentina), Andrei Arshavin (Russia), Michael Ballack (Germany), Gianluigi Buffon (Italy), Iker Casillas (Spain), Deco (Portugal), Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast), Samuel Eto'o (Cameroon), Cesc Fabregas (Spain), Steven Gerrard (England), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden), Andres Iniesta (Spain), Kaka (Brazil), Frank Lampard (England), Lionel Messi (Argentina), Franck Ribery (France), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), John Terry (England), Fernando Torres (Spain), Ruud van Nistelrooy (Netherlands), David Villa (Spain) and Xavi (Spain).