GENEVA, Dec. 4-- A shortlist of 20 defenders was released Wednesday as part of the final 55-player shortlist for the FIFA FIFPro team of 2013.

World soccer's governing body FIFA released the shortlist on its official website two days after the unveiling of the five goalkeepers.

This year, all of the shortlists for the individual positions will be released in the week leading up to the announcement of the final, complete shortlist. The shortlist for the midfielders and forwards will be announced and published on Dec. 6 and 9 respectively.

The 50,000 professional footballers belonging to the players' unions across the world that form FIFPro received voting forms to nominate their peers in a secret ballot for inclusion in their World XI - choosing the best goalkeeper, four defenders, three midfielders and three forwards of 2013.

The final FIFA FIFPro World XI will then be announced at the FIFA Ballon d'Or award ceremony at the Kongresshaus in Zurich on Jan. 13, 2014.