The Ballon d'Or is one of the most prestigious individual football awards that can be won by a soccer player each year. Established in 1956, France Football's famous Golden Ball accolade has returned for the 68th year in 2024. It has been won by the greatest players of all time, with Cristian Ronaldo and Lionel Messi memorably trading the trophy for over 10 years, but the scene has opened up for a new generation of legends. Icons from the game will be present at the ceremony with plenty of glitz and glamour expected.
The 2024 Ballon d'Or ceremony will be held at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris, France, on Monday, October 28, 2024. It is due to begin at 3:45 pm ET for viewers in the United States, with UK viewers able to watch from 7:45 pm GMT. Fans across the world will be able to stream the 2024 Ballon d'Or for free on L'Équipe's official YouTube channel. Regional broadcasters will also be showing the ceremony live on their networks. Paramount+ and CBS Sports Golazo will be streaming the Ballon d'Or ceremony in the United States. As well as the Ballon d'Or ceremony, Paramount+ is home to a variety of soccer competitions, including the Champions League, Serie A, the EFL and more.
Who are the nominees for the 2024 Ballon d'Or?
You can see the full list of nominees for each award below. The different awards are decided in different ways, with a mix of journalists and ex-players helping to choose the most worthy winners.
A panel of journalists from the top 100 football nations, per the FIFA rankings, vote on the men's Ballon d'Or award. Each nation has one journalist representative who votes on the international ballot.
Like the men's Ballon d'Or award, the Ballon d'Or Feminin is decided by an international panel of journalists. However, it is a panel of 50 - one journalist from each of the top 50 nations.
The winner of the Kopa trophy is decided by a jury of Ballon d'Or winners.
The Yashin Trophy winner is decided in the same way as the men's Ballon d'Or, by a panel of 100 journalists.
Lionel Messi won the 2023 Ballon d'Or, taking his honours tally to a record eight. Messi defeated Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe following a stellar World Cup-winning season. Aitana Bonmati won the Ballon d'Or Feminin, pipping Sam Kerr and Salma Paralluelo to the award.
Men's Ballon d'Or 2024 Nominees
Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior is the leading candidate for the men's award after a season in which he won the Spanish championship and Champions League. Vinicius, the man who inherited Ronaldo's number seven shirt at Real Madrid, has been tipped by many pundits to succeed Messi as the Men's Ballon d'Or. Given the lack of a clear candidate across club and international soccer, this year's men's field is wide open and there are a host of England internationals with Bayern Munchen's Harry Kane, Real's Jude Bellingham, City's Phil Foden and Arsenal pair Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka as well as Chelsea's Cole Palmer. There are also a number of Premier League-based foreign stars such as City's Portugal international Ruben Dias, Aston Villa's Argentine goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez as well as Gunners pair Martin Odegaard of Norway and William Saliba of France. It is also important to note that eight-time winner Messi and five-time champion Cristiano Ronaldo have not been nominated at all which is a first since 2003.
Women's Ballon d'Or 2024 Nominees
Defending champion Bonmati of Barcelona leads the way for the women's prize but there is a host of talent based in the United States that is also in contention which includes U.S. women's national team stars Trinity Rodman, Mallory Swanson, Sophia Smith and Alyssa Naeher as well as Zambia's Barbra Banda and Brazil's Tarciane. America's Lindsey Horan of Olympique Lyonnais in France is also in the mix while Barca's contingent of Patricia Guijarro, Caroline Graham Hansen, Salma Paralluelo and former winner Alexia Putellas also technically includes Mariona Caldentey -- who has since joined Arsenal -- and Lucy Bronze -- now of Chelsea -- as well as recent arrival Ewa Pajor from VfL Wolfsburg. England internationals Lauren James and Lauren Hemp also feature.
Who will win the Ballon d'Or?
The prizes are picked by an international jury of journalists from FIFA's top 100 men's world soccer rankings with each individual selecting 10 players. The order of merit dictates how many points each pick gets which ranges from 15 to one single point with the player scoring the most points winning the Ballon d'Or. A full ranking of the top 30 players is published in the build-up to the final three names being announced.
Messi is the record eight-time winner and current titleholder in the men's category but he will not be eligible to defend that title this year. Bonmati won her first crown in 2023 in the women's category which was only introduced in 2018 and is in the field to defend that title.
Real's Vini Jr. is expected to win the men's award for the first time although there is no clear and obvious candidate across club and international soccer this year. The Brazil international won La Liga and the UEFA Champions League with Los Blancos last season and scored 24 goals with 11 assists across all competitions including one of the two goals which won Carlo Ancelotti's side the final 2-0 against Borussia Dortmund at Wembley. The 24-year-old's international claims are much weaker though with just two goals across nine appearances this year which included a premature Copa America quarterfinal exit. City and Spain midfielder Rodri is another candidate with the injured 28-year-old key for Pep Guardiola's Premier League winners and La Roja as they won UEFA Euro 2024 which saw him named player of the tournament. Bellingham also has a case based on his Real form with 23 goals from 42 outings and he was part of the England side beaten by the Spanish in the Euro final in Germany this summer.
Bonmati is strongly fancied to win the women's award again to defend her crown with the World Cup winner enjoying another strong season with Barcelona who won a fifth consecutive Liga F title in Spain and also won the Champions League final against Lyon which saw her score and win player of the tournament. Spain also won the UEFA Nations League earlier this year with Bonmati scoring against France in a 2-0 success. Barca teammate Caroline Graham Hansen is competition for that award with 21 goals and 19 assists in Liga F as well as a role in the UCL team of the tournament alongside Bonmati while OL'S Kadidiatou Diani, Barca's Salma Paralluelo and USWNT's Mallory Swanson who led the Stars and Stripes to Olympic gold in Paris this summer.
Other Ballon d'Or Awards
On top of the men's and women's prizes, there are a number of other awards available which include the Kop Trophy for the best young talent under the age of 21 which has been won by the likes of Mbappe and Bellingham in the past. The Yashin Trophy for best goalkeeper, men's and women's head coach of the year also get recognized as well as the Gerd Muller trophy for the top scorer, men's and women's clubs of the year and the Socrates humanitarian prize.
How to Watch the 2024 Ballon d'Or Ceremony
The Ballon d'Or 2024 will be shown on TV and live stream as football's brightest stars gather for the big ceremony. The Ballon d'Or is the most prestigious individual award in world football, honouring the best of the best from a twisty, turning, dramatic calendar year. The men's and women's award winners will be crowned at a glitzy bash in Paris this evening, with plenty of strong opinions going into the ceremony. French sports newspaper L'Équipe instituted the award in 1956, and it remains the barometer of which player stands above the rest in the global football consensus.
Lionel Messi scooped an unprecedented eighth title in 2023, a belated recognition of his World Cup-winning form at Qatar 2022 the previous winter. The Ballon d'Or Féminin has been won by a Spanish player in the last three editions of the award, with Aitana Bonmatí scooping last year's title after back-to-back wins from Alexia Putellas.
The Ballon d'Or 2024 ceremony will take place on Monday 28th October 2024. It will begin at approximately 7pm UK time. The Ballon d'Or ceremony will be shown live on L'Équipe's YouTube channel for free with coverage of the whole ceremony.
The men's Ballon d'Or winner is expected to be Vinicius Junior following a terrific year for Real Madrid that saw the Spanish giants lift the La Liga and Champions League trophies. The Brazilian star would become the seventh Los Blancos star to receive the honour this century. He is set to follow in the footsteps of Luís Figo, Ronaldo, Fabio Cannavaro, Cristiano Ronaldo, Luka Modrić and Karim Benzema, who won the award in 2022. Other contenders in the mix include Rodri, who won Euro 2024 with Spain, and Jude Bellingham, who joined forces with Vinicius to torment defenders across the continent.
The women's Ballon d'Or winner is a more open race, with last year's winner Aitana Bonmatí ranked among the favourites. Her Barcelona teammate Caroline Graham Hansen is a top contender, while the Norwegian forward's compatriot – and winner of the inaugural Ballon d'Or Feminin award in 2018 – Ada Hegerberg is on the outskirts of contention.
Don't Miss the Glamour
The Ballon d'Or ceremony is a must-watch for any football fan. With the best players in the world in attendance, it is sure to be a night of excitement and intrigue. So make sure you tune in and see who takes home the coveted Golden Ball!
