Ghana international, Michael Essien has been named on a 30-man shortlist for FIFA's World Player of the Year award.

Essien and two other African stars - Didier Drogba of Ivory Coast and Cameroon’s Samuel Eto'o are in the hunt for the award, which Brazilian Ronaldinho is aiming to win for a record-tying third time.

The Black Stars and Chelsea midfielder was on Thursday included in the list alongside five Chelsea teammates for soccer's top individual honor.

Michael Essien, who is the only Ghanaian player on the list was instrumental in Ghana's good showing at the World Cup in Germany.

The coaches and captains of every national team will be asked to choose their top three players.

FIFA will reveal the three with the most votes before announcing the winner in Zurich on December 18.

Ronaldinho, who last season helped Barcelona clinch the Champions League and Spanish league titles, can become the first player to claim the FIFA award in three straight years.

He edged Lampard and Barcelona teammate Samuel Eto'o to the crown last year.

FIFA WORLD PLAYER OF THE YEAR NOMINEES

Adriano (Brazil) Michael Ballack (Germany) Gianluigi Buffon (Italy) Fabio Cannavaro (Italy) Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) Petr Cech (Czech Republic) Deco (Portugal) Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast) Michael Essien (Ghana) Samuel Eto'o (Cameroon) Luis Figo (Portugal) Gennaro Gattuso (Italy) Steven Gerrard (England) Thierry Henry (France) Kaka (Brazil) Miroslav Klose (Germany) Philipp Lahm (Germany) Frank Lampard (England) Jens Lehmann (Germany) Alessandro Nesta (Italy) Andrea Pirlo (Italy) Franck Ribery (France) Juan Roman Riquelme (Argentina) Ronaldinho (Brazil) Wayne Rooney (England) Tomas Rosicky (Czech Republic) Andriy Shevchenko (Ukraine) Lilian Thuram (France) Patrick Vieira (France) Zinedine Zidane (France).