FIFA Ballon d’Or 2015 Award - Football Boots Battle

Update 30/11/15: FIFA today announced the three finalists for the 2015 Ballon d’Or award. And as the three final candidates of the 2015 Ballon d’Or Award (Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Neymar) are as expected, you can already check out the leaked boots Messi will receive if he wins this year's trophy.

23 candidates, one trophy. FIFA and France Football have today announced the names of the nominees for the 2015 FIFA Ballon d’Or award. And while the final three-player shortlist will be revealed on November 30 and the winner is set to be announced not before January 11, we take a detailed look at the football boots worn by the 2015 FIFA Ballon d'Or nominees in association with Football Boots DB.

The Football Boots Brands of the 2015 FIFA Ballon d’Or Nominees

This infographic shows the boots brands of the 23 2015 Ballon d’Or nominees.

It's no surprise that the 2015 FIFA Ballon d'Or Shortlist is heavily dominated by Adidas and Nike, who supply the boots for 21 of 23 players. Two players are wearing Puma Boots, while other brands such as New Balance, Mizuno, Umbro and Under Armour did not manage to sign at least one athlete. Let's get into the details.

Adidas supplies the boots for ten players. Adidas' strong line-up includes players such as 2015 FIFA Ballon d’Or favorite Lionel Messi, Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema, Luis Suarez and Thomas Müller. And while Toni Kroos is the only player who still laces up in discontinued boots (Adidas Adipure 11pro) and Lionel Messi wears his own boots (Adidas Messi 15.1), five players are lacing up in the Adidas X and three players are wearing the Adidas Ace Boots.

Nike even managed to sign one more player than Adidas. Six players are lacing up in the Nike Mercurial Boots (including Cristiano Ronaldo, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Neymar), three players are wearing the Nike Magista (Iniesta, Mascherano, Pogba), while two players are lacing up in Nike's Agility silo (Nike Hypervenom - Neymar, Lewandowski).

While Puma supplied the boots for one player last year, Yaya Toure (Puma evoPOWER) and Sergio Agüero (Puma evoSPEED) double Puma's yield. However, it's obvious that smaller brands can't keep up with Adidas and Nike, who completely dominate the market.

Adidas or Nike? Who will win the 2015 FIFA Ballon d'Or Boots Battle? Let us know in the comments below, and check out all football boot statistics on www.footballbootsdb.com.