The nominations for the 2009 FIFA World Player of the Year came out this morning and icons.com stars feature prominently. Lionel Messi would be are choice for the award, having helped Barcelona to win La Liga, El Copa del Rey and the Champions League whilst also leading Argentina to the World Cup finals, just.

The full list of 23 nominations is as follows, featuring seven icons.com players.

Michael Ballack (Germany), Chelsea

Gianluigi Buffon (Italy), Juventus

Iker Casillas (Spain), Real Madrid

Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Real Madrid

Diego (Brazil), Juventus

Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast), Chelsea

Michael Essien (Ghana), Chelsea

Samuel Eto'o (Cameroon), Inter Milan

Steven Gerrard (England), Liverpool

Thierry Henry (France), Barcelona

Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden), Barcelona

Andres Iniesta (Spain), Barcelona

Kaka (Brazil), Real Madrid

Frank Lampard (England), Chelsea

Luis Fabiano (Brazil), Sevilla

Lionel Messi (Argentina), Barcelona

Carles Puyol (Spain), Barcelona

Franck Ribery (France), Bayern Munich

Wayne Rooney (England), Manchester United

John Terry (England), Chelsea

Fernando Torres (Spain), Liverpool

David Villa (Spain), Valencia

Xavi (Spain), Barcelona

What a result! England booked their passage to South Africa last night with a comprehensive 5-1 win over Croatia at Wembley. As you may imagine, we love our football here at icons so we all went along to cheer on Gerrard, Lampard and the rest of Fabio's boys. The qualification is great news for all England fans, and good news for the icons shop of course, as next summer World Cup fever will be gripping the nation once again. Roll on 2010.