Both midfielders have been named on the shortlist for the prestigious gong, with Manchester United's Ronaldo the favourite following the Red Devils' Premier League and Champions League triumphs.
"I'll be honest," Chelsea and England star Lampard told the Daily Express. "It looks like it is going to be Ronaldo.
"Anyone who scores 42 goals in a season, performs the way he did and wins the league and the Champions League is going to be hard to beat.
"Ronaldo said it the other day and he's right. The World Player of the Year award goes to a top, top player and it goes generally to those that have won things as well.
"Normally top players win things and when you look at Ronaldo, Kaka, Fabio Cannavaro, Ronaldinho - the recent winners - they have all been successful in their teams."
Chelsea missed out to United on two fronts last season and their domestic challenge suffered a setback with defeat by Liverpool last weekend.
But Lampard believes his side, under new boss Luiz Felipe Scolari, have the tools to top the table this time around.
"I'm very confident," he continued. "In the last two years we have been there or thereabouts and we had so many issues to deal with. It's not an excuse, it's a fact. We changed manager last year, we have had multiple injuries and yet we have been in the mix.
"We have injuries again, but the good thing is we have strength in depth in the squad and a lot of quality people that can come in and do their jobs as good as the people that are coming out.
"If we can keep going through the very difficult parts at Christmas and Easter then hopefully we'll be there again."
