Should the Portugal forward triumph, he will equal the record of his great rival and five-times winner Lionel Messi of Barcelona, who is also nominated.
The only other Barca player in the running is Luis Suarez, while Paris St Germain's Neymar and Edinson Cavani are also included on the shortlist.
England striker Harry Kane is among seven Premier League players nominated, alongside Liverpool's Philippe Coutinho and Sadio Mane, Manchester United's David de Gea, Chelsea's N'Golo Kante and Eden Hazard, and Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne.
Kylian Mbappe, 18, is the youngest player on the list following his close season move to PSG from Monaco.
The Ballon d'Or, which merged with the FIFA World Player of the Year award from 2010-15 to create the FIFA Ballon d'Or, returned to France Football magazine this year having been established in 1956.
A panel of journalists picks the winner.
Shortlist:
Philippe Coutinho (Liverpool)
Kevin De Bruyne (Man City)
David de Gea (Man Utd)
Paulo Dybala (Juventus)
Edin Dzeko (Roma)
Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur)
N'Golo Kante (Chelsea)
Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
Marcelo (Real Madrid)
Dries Mertens (Napoli)
Luka Modric (Real Madrid)
Neymar (PSG)
Jan Oblak (Atletico Madrid)
Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid)
Luis Suarez (Barcelona)
Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid)
Toni Kroos (Real Madrid)
Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus)
Sadio Mane (Liverpool)
Radamel Falcao (Monaco)
Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Borussia Dortmund)
Edinson Cavani (PSG)
Mats Hummels (Bayern Munich)
Karim Benzema (Real Madrid)
Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)
Eden Hazard (Chelsea)
Leonardo Bonucci (AC Milan)
Isco (Real Madrid)
Kylian Mbappe (PSG)
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
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