LONDON , England ( CNN ) -- FIFA will announce its Player of the Year for 2008 at a ceremony in Zurich today , and here is a look at the leading contenders for the award . Favorite : Portugal and Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo is in line for the FIFA award . To see the full list of contenders for the prize and vote for who you think should win , click here . Cristiano Ronaldo ( Manchester United , Portugal ) Ronaldo has emerged as favorite for the award after he and his Manchester United club enjoyed a superb season . The Portugal international was a central figure in the club 's English Premier League , UEFA Champions League and World Club Championships titles . He scored 42 goals in the season . Critics would say he did n't perform well enough on the international stage , as Portugal exited at the quarter-final stage of Euro 2008 , and Ronaldo was disappointing . However , he has already picked up the Ballon d'Or award for Europe 's player of the year , and for the previous three years the winner of this has gone on to claim the FIFA prize ( Ronaldinho , Fabio Cannavaro and Kaka ) . Lionel Messi ( Barcelona , Argentina ) Messi appears to be Ronaldo 's main challenger for the prize -- if public opinion matters , anyway . Messi won an Olympic gold medal with Argentina and made a stunning start to the current season with Barcelona . In the Primera Liga his 10 goals early in the season helped open up a significant gap on the side 's main rivals , and he has also scored five goals in the UEFA Champions League season . The 21-year-old is often compared to Argentina 's legendary Diego Maradona . Fernando Torres ( Liverpool , Spain ) The Spaniard enjoyed an incredible first season in the Premier League -- scoring 24 league goals for Liverpool -- a new record for a foreign striker in his debut season . After that success he went on to Austria-Switzerland and played an integral part in Spain 's Euro 2008 victory , scoring the winning goal in the final . If top-level international performances are the key to this award then Torres should go close . Iker Casillas ( Real Madrid , Spain ) Casillas was recently awarded the Best Keeper of the World in 2008 title by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics . Casillas played a large part in helping his Real Madrid side to the Spanish La Liga title , put in strong performances in the UEFA Champions League , and was a key part of Spain 's Euro 2008-winning team . Xavi Hernandez ( Barcelona , Spain ) Also part of the Spanish team which won Euro 2008 , Xavi claimed the Player of the Tournament award , which would make him a worthy winner of the FIFA Player of the Year . Aside from his stunning performances at Euro , Xavi scored seven goals for Barcelona last season , and was one of their standout players , while this season he has continued his good form and helped Barcelona to the top of La Liga .
FIFA will announce its Player of the Year for 2013 in Zurich Monday night . Cristiano Ronaldo has been mentioned as a favorite to win the award . Lionel Messi , Fernando Torres , Iker Casillas and Xavi are top contenders .