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When is the Ballon d’Or? Date, time and how to watch

michael jones
·5 min read
2

The Ballon d’Or awards ceremony takes place on Monday 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?

Ballon d’Or Féminin 2023: Who is nominated for the women’s award?

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.