Excitement for the 2024 Ballon d’Or ceremony continues to build with the nominees for a host of awards now revealed.
With 2023 victor Lionel Messi and five-time winner Cristiano Ronaldo omitted from the Ballon d’Or shortlist, a fresh face is set to scoop the award in 2024. There could also be new winners of the Kopa Trophy and Yashin Trophy, awarded to the best young player and goalkeeper respectively.
Of course, there is also the Ballon d’Or Feminin to be handed out at the upcoming ceremony. Aitana Bonmati claimed the prize for the first time last year and will face competition from her Barcelona teammates as she looks for back-to-back triumphs.
Here is everything you need to know about the 2024 Ballon d’Or ceremony.
The 2024 Ballon d’Or is the 68th edition, with the first recipient of the award being England’s Stanley Matthews all the way back in 1956. This year’s ceremony will take place on Monday 28 October at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris – the same venue that has hosted the award since 2019.
Timings have been confirmed by UEFA and France Football, who are co-hosts for October’s event, with the ceremony kicking off at 19:00 GMT.
Those interested in watching the 2024 Ballon d’Or ceremony are in luck, with the event streamed for free on L’Equipe’s YouTube channel.
The 30-man shortlist for the 2024 Ballon d’Or has now been released, with some unsurprising names up for the accolade. Real Madrid and Manchester City boast the players with the greatest chance of winning this year’s award.
Vinicius Junior is one of the big favourites, with the Brazilian superstar having shone for Real Madrid last term. He scored in the Champions League final victory over Borussia Dortmund and produced 24 goals and 11 assists in all competitions for the La Liga champions.
His teammate Jude Bellingham is also knocking on the door after an exceptional debut season with Real Madrid. He won the club’s and La Liga’s Player of the Season award and was instrumental in an underwhelming England side reaching the final of Euro 2024 over the summer.
Two Spanish Euro 2024 winners are also in the mix. One of those 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 securing another Premier League title, while also winning Euro 2024’s Player of the Tournament.
The 30-woman shortlist for the Ballon d’Or Feminin has also been revealed, with 2023 champion Bonmati the strong favourite to claim a second successive award. The Barcelona midfielder scored in the Champions League final as the Catalan giants beat Lyon. She also netted 18 other goals as Barca did the treble, while being named the MVP for the UEFA Nations League as Spain came out victorious.
Bonmati’s Barca teammates are also among the nominees. In fact, Barca boast eight nominees who currently play for them or donned their jersey 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 just ten nominees for the Kopa Trophy, named after 1958 Ballon d’Or winner Raymond Kopa and won by the best men’s player under the age of 21.
From the Premier League, Man City summer signing Savinho and Manchester United duo Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo have a chance of winning. RB Salzburg’s Karim Konate is the only player currently outside of the top five European leagues to be nominated, although Joao Neves, now of Paris Saint-Germain, did feature for Benfica last term.
However, it feels inevitable Barcelona wonderkid and Euro 2024 star Lamine Yamal will win the award. He enjoyed an immense breakout season with La Blaugrana and won the Young Player of the Tournament at the Euros, as well as scoring the Goal of the Tournament for champions Spain.
The Yashin Trophy has only been around since 2019 and, with 2020’s ceremony cancelled, has only seen four previous winners. They are Alisson, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Thibaut Courtois and, most recently, Emiliano Martinez.
The Argentine is nominated for the prize again but faces stiff competition to retain his crown. Donnarumma is the only past champion who can steal it from him, while the likes of Mike Maignan, Gregor Kobel and new Liverpool recruit Giorgi Mamardashvili have also been named among the nominees.
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