Henry reached the Champions League final with Arsenal

Three-time winner Zinedine Zidane, 2005 winner Ronaldinho and European Player of the year Fabio Cannavaro were named as the three remaining candidates.

But Arsenal striker Henry missed out despite being the only player to make it to the finals of both the Champions League and the World Cup last season.

The winner of the prestigious honour will be revealed on 18 December.

The award is voted for by the coach and captain of all 207 national teams, who each pick their top three players of the year.

Italy and Real Madrid defender Cannavaro will be confident of ending the year in style after picking up the Ballon D'Or award this week.

Meanwhile, Barcelona and Brazil forward Ronaldinho is once again a frontrunner after winning it for the last two years.

Zidane, who retired from football following his red card in the World Cup final last summer, could pick up the award for a fourth time, having claimed it in 2003, 2000 and 1998.

In the women's award category, USA's Kristine Lilly, Germany's Renate Lingor and Brazil international Marta have all been shortlisted.

Germany's Birgit Prinz, the 2005 winner, did not make the initial list of 20 candidates.