Spanish champion Barcelona is the sure winner when the world's best footballer of 2010 is crowned on Monday.
All three candidates for the FIFA Ballon d'Or award - Andres Iniesta, Xavi Hernandez and Lionel Messi - play for the club, and all learned their craft at its La Masia youth academy.
The gala ceremony in FIFA's home city shapes as another victory lap for World Cup winner Spain.
National team boss Vicente del Bosque is favored to get the inaugural men's coaching award for guiding La Furia Roja to the title in South Africa.
Xavi or Iniesta, whose goal against the Netherlands decided the final, is likely to be similarly rewarded over Messi, whose Argentina side was outclassed by Germany in the quarterfinals.
In its 20th year, the FIFA event has merged with the Ballon d'Or award presented to the best player in Europe by France Football magazine since 1956.
The slate of honors now includes best female coach and player. A worldwide fans' vote decides the Puskas Award for most beautiful goal of 2010 and FIFA president Sepp Blatter will make a personal award. FIFA also awards a fair play prize and teams up with FIFPro, the global group of players' unions, to name a World XI.
Barcelona is assured of an eighth victory since FIFA created its world player prize 20 years ago. Messi's win in 2009 followed Brazilians Romario (1994), Ronaldo (1996 and '97), Rivaldo (1999) and Ronaldinho (2004 and '05).
Surprisingly, no Spaniard has won or even finished runner-up. Xavi's third place last year matched Fernando Torres (2008) and Raul (2001).
Xavi's supreme year in midfield for club and country already earned him World Soccer magazine's 2010 accolade, edging Messi into second. Dutchman Wesley Sneijder was third and Iniesta fifth.
Victory on Monday would continue an emotional new year for 30-year-old Xavi, who set a Barcelona record of 550 appearances last week.
However, the FIFA voting college of coaches and captains from national teams plus invited journalists could be swayed by Iniesta's goal on the biggest stage.
Iniesta's assist rate was better than one per game last year. When the 26-year-old midfielder was sidelined by a right calf muscle injury, Barcelona was upset by Sneijder's Internazionale in a Champions League semifinal.
Messi's place on the shortlist is beyond question despite exiting the World Cup in an embarrassing 4-0 loss for coach Diego Maradona's team. For Barcelona, the 23-year-old forward was mesmerizing and prolific.
The diminutive trio of nominees - none taller than 5-feet-7 (1.70 meter) - combined six weeks ago in the defining club performance of 2010.
Barcelona's 5-0 humiliation of a Real Madrid team previously unbeaten in the league showed it, and not Club World Cup winner Inter, was now best.
The two coaches that night, Barca's Pep Guardiola and Real's Jose Mourinho, will challenge Del Bosque for the FIFA prize.
Mourinho was the world's best in the first half of 2010, leading Inter to a treble of European and Italian trophies.
The women's coaching shortlist features Maren Meinert, whose Germany Under-20 team was world champion in July, German senior team coach Silvia Neid and Pia Sundhage, the Swede who coaches the United States national team.
Germany international Lira Bajramaj is a new challenger for the women's player award. The Kosovo-born midfielder competes with four-time winner Marta of Brazil, and German forward Birgit Prinz who won the three previous prizes.
The 10 goals nominated for the Puskas Award include strikes from both ends of the broadcast spectrum.
Hundreds of millions watched live on television when Siphiwe Tshabalala score the World Cup's opening goal for South Africa against Mexico.
Spectacular volleyed shots by Matthew Burrows for Northern Ireland club Glentoran and Linus Hallenius for Sweden's Hammarby owe their popularity to YouTube.
