Excitement for the 2024 Ballon d’Or ceremony continues to build with the nominees for a number of awards revealed.
Featuring 2023 winner Lionel Messi and five-time winner Cristiano Ronaldo omitted from the Ballon d’Or finalist lista new face will take the prize in 2024. There could also be new winners of the Kopa Trophy and Yashin Trophy, awarded to the best young player and the best goalkeeper respectively.
Of course, there is also the Women’s Ballon d’Or which will be awarded at the next ceremony. Aitana Bonmati claimed the award for the first time last year and will face competition from her Barcelona teammates as she looks for back-to-back wins.
Here’s everything you need to know about 2024 Ballon d’Or ceremony
The 2024 Ballon d’Or is the 68th edition, with the first winner of the award being Englishman Stanley Matthews in 1956. This year’s ceremony will take place on Monday 28 October at the Theater du Chatelet in Paris, at the same venue . which has hosted the award since 2019.
The schedule has been confirmed by UEFA and France Football, who are co-hosting the event in October, with the ceremony set to begin at 19:00 GMT.
Those interested in watching the 2024 Ballon d’Or ceremony are in luck, with the event being streamed for free on L’Equipe’s YouTube channel.
The list of 30 candidates for the Ballon d’Or 2024 has already been publishedwith some surprising names for recognition. Real Madrid and Manchester City have the players with the best chance of winning this year’s award.
Vinicius Junior is one of the big favouriteswith the Brazilian superstar who had shone at Real Madrid last season. He scored in the Champions League final win over Borussia Dortmund and produced 24 goals and 11 assists in all competitions for the League champions.
His team-mate Jude Bellingham is also knocking on the door after an outstanding debut season for Real Madrid. He won the club and League Player of the Season award and was instrumental in an underwhelming England side reaching the Euro 2024 final in the summer.
There are also two Spanish winners of Euro 2024. One of them is Madrid’s Dani Carvajal, with the right-back also scoring in last season’s Champions League final at Wembley Stadium. The other is Rodri, who was instrumental in Manchester City winning another Premier League title, while also winning the Euro 2024 Player of the Tournament.
The 30-woman shortlist for the Women’s Ballon d’Or has also been revealedwith 2023 champion Bonmati the strong favorite to claim a second consecutive prize. The Barcelona midfielder scored in the Champions League final as the Catalan giants beat Lyon. She also scored a further 18 goals as Barca completed the treble, while she was named UEFA Nations League MVP as Spain emerged victorious.
Bonmati’s Barça teammates are also among the nominees. In fact, Barça have eight nominees who are currently playing for them or donned their shirt during the 2023/24 season. Among them, Salma Paralluelo, Caroline Graham Hansen and Mariona Caldentey (now of Arsenal) are likely to receive significant votes.
There are only ten nominees for the Kopa Trophywhich is named after 1958 Ballon d’Or winner Raymond Kopa and won the best male under-21 player.
From the Premier League, Man City summer signing Savinho and Manchester United duo Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo have chances to win. RB Salzburg’s Karim Konate is the only player currently outside Europe’s top five leagues to be nominated, although Joao Neves, now of Paris Saint-Germain, featured for Benfica last season.
However, it seems inevitable that Barcelona wonderkid and Euro 2024 star Lamine Yamal will win the award. He enjoyed a great season with the Blaugrana and won the Young Player of the Tournament at the Euros, as well as scoring the Goal of the Tournament for the Spanish champions.
The Yashin Trophy has only been around since 2019, and with the 2020 ceremony cancelled, only four previous winners have been seen. They are Alisson, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Thibaut Courtois and, more recently, Emiliano Martinez.
The Argentine is once again nominated for the award but he faces stiff competition to retain his crown. Donnarumma is the only past champion to steal from him, while Mike Maignan, Gregor Kobel and new Liverpool recruit Giorgi Mamardashvili have also been named among the nominees.
