Judgement day is drawing near. Six candidates remain on course for the title of Gillette Best Young Player. Three of them have been nominated by our readers, while the other three have been chosen by FIFA's Technical Study Group.

Fans have voted on FIFAworldcup.com to nominate Cristiano Ronaldo (POR) , Luis Valencia (ECU) and Lionel Messi (ARG) , while the Technical Study Group has selected an additional trio of Lukas Podolski (GER) , Tranquilo Barnetta (SUI) and Cesc Fabregas (ESP) .

This shortlist of six has been whittled down from an original field of 40 young players. Since 9 June, readers have been able to vote for their favourite young player on FIFAworldcup.com, while the FIFA specialists have kept a close eye on the performances of the tournament's talented youngsters in their various matches. It is now time for the 14 members of the group to get together and decide the deserving winner, whose name will be revealed on 7 July.

This is the first year that FIFA has awarded the Gillette Best Young Player Trophy. Designed to reward the player born on or after 1 January 1985 who makes the biggest impression at the FIFA World Cup, the criteria for the award include style, charisma, fair play and appetite for the game, as well as pure technical skill.