The Ballon d’Or awards ceremony takes place tonight when football’s most prestigious individual prize is presented to the most worthy recipient. The Ballon d’Or and Ballon d’Or Féminin are annual awards presented by French news magazine France Football and have been running since 1956.
Karim Benzema, who led Real Madrid to the Champions League, LaLiga, Uefa Super Cup and Spanish Super Cup titles, lifted the Ballon d’Or trophy last year while Alexia Putellas won the women’s award for a second consecutive year.
Lionel Messi is the most decorated Ballon d’Or winner with seven triumphs to his name and is the big favourite to be awarded the trophy again this year after his heroics in helping Argentina win the World Cup. Messi faces competition from Manchester City’s Erling Haaland and PSG’s Kylian Mbappe.
Aitana Bonmati is the favourite to succeed Putellas for the Ballon d’Or Feminin after leading Spain to the Women’s World Cup and Barcelona to the Women’s Champions League. Bonmati was named player of the tournament in both the World Cup and Champions League, while Chelsea and Australia star Sam Kerr could place highly.
Here’s everything you need to know ahead of the ceremony:
When is the Ballon d’Or
The 67th annual Ballon d’Or ceremony will take place on Monday 30 October 2023. It is expected to begin at 8:00pm GMT (UK time) at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris, France.
How can I watch it?
The ceremony will be broadcast on L’Equipe’s YouTube channel for free with Chelsea legend Didier Drogba presenting the live coverage.
Ballon d’Or 2023: Who is nominated for the men’s award?
- Josko Gvardiol (RB Leipzig and Manchester City)
- Andre Onana (Inter Milan and Manchester United)
- Karim Benzema (Real Madrid and Al-Ittihad)
- Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
- Jamal Musiala (Bayern Munich)
- Bukayo Saka (Arsenal)
- Randal Kolo Muani (Eintracht Frankfurt and Paris Saint-Germain)
- Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid)
- Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City)
- Bernardo Silva (Manchester City)
- Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (Napoli)
- Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa)
- Ruben Dias (Manchester City)
- Nicolo Barella (Inter Milan)
- Erling Haaland (Manchester City)
- Martin Odegaard (Arsenal)
- Ilkay Gundogan (Manchester City and Barcelona)
- Yassine Bounou (Sevilla and Al-Hilal)
- Julian Alvarez (Manchester City)
- Vinicius Jr (Real Madrid)
- Rodrigo (Manchester City)
- Lionel Messi (Paris Saint-Germain and Inter Miami)
- Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid)
- Lautaro Martinez (Inter Milan)
- Robert Lewandowski (Barcelona)
- Kim Min-jae (Napoli and Bayern Munich)
- Luka Modric (Real Madrid)
- Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-German)
- Victor Osimhen (Napoli)
- Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur and Bayern Munich)
Ballon d’Or Féminin 2023: Who is nominated for the women’s award?
- Daphne Van Domselaar (Twente and Aston Villa)
- Lena Oberdorf (Vfl Wolfsburg)
- Hinata Miyazawa (MyNavi Sendai)
- Millie Bright (Chelsea)
- Salma Paralluelo (Barcelona)
- Sophia Smith (Portland Thorns)
- Hayley Raso (Manchester City and Real Madrid)
- Amanda Ilestedt (Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal)
- Georgia Stanway (Bayern Munich)
- Olga Carmona (Real Madrid)
- Fridolina Rolfo (Barcelona)
- Rachel Daly (Aston Villa)
- Alba Redondo (Levante)
- Lina Caicedo (Real Madrid)
- Kadidiatou Diani (Paris Saint-Germain and Olympique Lyonnais)
- Patricia Guijarro (Barcelona)
- Ewa Pajor (Vfl Wolfsburg)
- Guro Reiten (Chelsea)
- Sam Kerr (Chelsea)
- Debinha (North Carlina Courage and Kansas City Current)
- Aitana Bonmati (Barcelona)
- Alexandra Popp (Vfl Wolfsburg)
- Yui Hasegawa (Manchester City)
- Jill Roord (Vfl Wolfsburg and Manchester City)
- Katie McCabe (Arsenal)
- Wendie Renard (Olympique Lyonnais)
- Asisat Oshoala (Barcelona)
- Mary Earps (Manchester United)
- Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw (Manchester City)
- Mapi Leon (Barcelona)
How is the Ballon d’Or decided?
The awards honour the male and female players deemed to have performed the best over the previous season with the victors decided by 100 journalists from Fifa’s top-ranked member nations.
Each journalist makes their top five picks from the 30-player shortlists, with each ranking earning a number of votes. The higher the ranking the more votes goes to a player.
The players with the most votes at the end of the tally win the awards.
Ballon d’Or 2023: Who are the favourites?
Lionel Messi is the favourite with the bookies to win a record-extending eighth prize, He led Argentina to World Cup glory in Qatar, scoring seven goals - including two in the final - and won the tournament’s Golden Ball for best player.
His main competition comes from Manchester City’s Erling Haaland after an extraordinary debut season with the Premier League champions saw him score 52 goals across all competitions helping Pep Guardiola’s lift the Treble.
Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior, PSG’s Kylian Mbappe and City midfielders Kevin De Bruyne and Rodri are expected to also feature highly.
For the women’s prize Barcelona and Spain star Aitana Bonmati is being backed to win the award having earned the Golden Ball during Spain’s first-ever World Cup win in Australia and New Zealand.
Chelsea’s Sam Kerr scored 29 goals helping the Blues win a domestic double while Georgia Stanway could be an outside pick after impressing in England’s run to the final and clinching a domestic title with Bayern Munich.
What are the other awards given out?
Alongside the men’s and women’s main awards, there will also be the presentations of the Kopa Trophy, the Yashin Trophy, the Socrates Award, the Gerd Muller Trophy and Club of the Year.
The Kopa Trophy is given to the best Under-21 player while the Yashin Trophy is presented to the best performing goalkeeper.
The Socrates Award is handed out for humanitarian work done by a footballer and the Gerd Muller Trophy is for the best striker for club and country.
Club of the Year is self-evident and was won by Manchester City last year.
