Ballon d'Or 2023: How to watch, date, time, nominees, venue and voting explained

  • French Football have released men's and women's shortlists for 2023 awards
  • Lionel Messi is the favourite after leading Argentina to Qatar glory in 2022
  • Aitana Bonmati was brilliant as Spain won the Women's World Cup in the summer
Karim Benzema is the current holder of the Ballon d'Or
Karim Benzema is the current holder of the Ballon d'Or / Catherine Steenkeste/GettyImages
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FIFA's The Best awards may be trying to rival it, but the Ballon d'Or is still viewed as the highest individual award in football.

The debate over who should win the Ballon d'Or is always ferocious and the prize goes down as a historic part of the winner's career. It is handed out based on the recent season rather than the calendar year like The Best awards.

Here is all you need to know about the 2023 edition of the Ballon d'Or.



When and where is the 2023 Ballon d'Or?

The ceremony for the 2023 Ballon d'Or is scheduled to take place on Monday 30 October 2023. As the award is run by French Football, the ceremony will be taking place at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris, France.

It is expected that the ceremony will get underway at 20:00 GMT.


How to watch the Ballon d'Or 2023

As was the case last year, fans will be able to watch the ceremony for free on the L'Equipe YouTube channel and website.

Viewers based in the UK will also be able to revel in the pomp and ceremony conducted by Didier Drogba via the BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport app, website and via the Red Button from 19:45 GMT.


2023 Ballon d'Or nominees

Lionel Messi
Messi is expected to land another Ballon d'Or / Alex Livesey - Danehouse/GettyImages

The nominees for the 2023 men's Ballon d'Or were announced on Wednesday 6 September with Lionel Messi the frontrunner for an eighth golden ball after starring at the 2022 World Cup with Argentina.

Erling Haaland is tipped to do well in voting after a record-breaking debut season at Manchester City, while England internationals Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham and Bukayo Saka are all included in the 30-player.

  • Julian Alvarez - Manchester City/Argentina
  • Nicolo Barella - Inter/Italy
  • Jude Bellingham - Borussia Dortmund/Real Madrid/England
  • Karim Benzema - Real Madrid/Al Ittihad/France
  • Yassine Bounou - Sevilla/Al Hilal/Morocco
  • Kevin De Bruyne - Manchester City/Belgium
  • Ruben Dias - Manchester City/Portugal
  • Antoine Griezmann - Atletico Madrid/France
  • Ilkay Gundgan - Manchester City/Barcelona/Germany
  • Josko Gvardiol - RB Leipzig/Manchester City/Croatia
  • Erling Haaland - Manchester City/Norway
  • Harry Kane - Tottenham/Bayern Munich/England
  • Randal Kolo Muani - Eintracht Frankfurt/PSG/France
  • Khvicha Kvaratskhelia - Napoli/Georgia
  • Robert Lewandowski - Barcelona/Poland
  • Emiliano Martinez - Aston Villa/Argentina
  • Lautaro Martinez - Inter/Argentina
  • Kylian Mbappe - PSG/France
  • Lionel Messi - PSG/Inter Miami/Argentina
  • Kim Min-jae - Napoli/Bayern Munich/South Korea
  • Luka Modric - Real Madrid/Croatia
  • Jamal Muaiala - Bayern Munich/Germany
  • Martin Odegaard - Arsenal/Norway
  • Andre Onana - Inter/Manchester United/Cameroon
  • Victor Osimhen - Napoli/Nigeria
  • Rodri - Manchester City/Spain
  • Bukayo Saka - Arsenal/England
  • Mohamed Salah - Liverpool/Egypt
  • Bernardo Silva - Manchester City/Portugal
  • Vinicius Junior - Real Madrid/Brazil

2023 Ballon d'Or Feminin nominees

Aitana Bonmati
Bonmati could claim the women's prize / Marc Atkins/GettyImages

Alexia Putellas won the Ballon d'Or Feminin in 2021 and 2022 but won't retain her title having spent most of the 2022/23 campaign on the sidelines with an ACL injury.

However, after Spain's Women's World Cup triumph it's expected a Spaniard will once again get their hands on the trophy. Aitana Bonmati is the favourite and is joined by compatriots Olga Carmona, Salma Paralluelo and Alba Redondo on the shortlist, while Lionesses Millie Bright, Rachel Daly, Mary Earps and Georgia Stanway are also included.

  • Aitana Bonmati - Barcelona/Spain
  • Millie Bright - Chelsea/England
  • Linda Caicedo - Deportivo Cali/Real Madrid/Colombia
  • Olga Carmona - Real Madrid/Spain
  • Rachel Daly - Aston Villa/England
  • Debinha - North Carolina Courage/Kansas City Current/Brazil
  • Kadidiatou Diana - PSG/Lyon/France
  • Mary Earps - Manchester United/England
  • Patri Guijarro - Barcelona
  • Yui Hasegawa - Manchester City/Japan
  • Amanda Ilestedt - PSG/Arsenal/Sweden
  • Sam Kerr - Chelsea/Australia
  • Mapi Leon - Barcelona
  • Katie McCabe - Arsenal/Republic of Ireland
  • Hinata Miyazawa - Mynavi Sendai/Manchester United/Japan
  • Lena Oberdorf - Wolfsburg/Germany
  • Asisat Oshoala - Barcelona/Nigeria
  • Ewa Pajor - Wolfsburg/Poland
  • Salma Paralluelo - Barcelona/Spain
  • Alexandra Popp - Wolfsburg/Germany
  • Hayley Raso - Manchester City/Real Madrid/Australia
  • Alba Redondo - Levante/Spain
  • Guro Reiten - Chelsea/Norway
  • Wendie Renard - Lyon/France
  • Fridolina Rolfo - Barcelona/Sweden
  • Jill Roord - Wolfsburg/Manchester City/Netherlands
  • Khadija Shaw - Manchester City/Jamaica
  • Sophia Smith - Portland Thorns/United States
  • Georgia Stanway - Bayern Munich/England
  • Daphne van Domselaar - Twente/Aston Villa/Netherlands

How does Ballon d'Or voting work?

Rather than being voted for by players, coaches and media as The Best awards are, the Ballon d'Or voting is solely undertaken by journalists.

At the 2022 Ballon d'Or, 100 journalists from FIFA's top 100 nations selected their top five players from the 30-player shortlist that had previously been decided. They rank their five choices and a number of votes are awarded based on those rankings, as seen below.

  • First: Six points
  • Second: Four points
  • Third: Three points
  • Fourth: Two points
  • Fifth: One point

Real Madrid's Karim Benzema won the 2022 Ballon d'Or and received an incredible 549 votes, 356 more than second-placed Sadio Mane who had a brilliant season with Liverpool before his move to Bayern Munich. That was the biggest-ever winning margin.


Multiple men's Ballon d'Or winners

Messi stretched his lead over Ronaldo in the Ballon d'Or stakes to two trophies more with his 2021 triumph. That lead stayed in tact in 2022 as Benzema came out on top in the voting.

Player

Ballon d'Or wins

Years won

Lionel Messi

7

2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019, 2021

Cristiano Ronaldo

5

2008, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017

Michel Platini

3

1983, 1984, 1985

Johan Cruyff

3

1971, 1973, 1974

Marco van Basten

3

1988, 1989, 1992

Franz Beckenbauer

2

1972, 1976

Ronaldo

2

1997, 2002

Alfredo Di Stefano

2

1957, 1959

Kevin Keegan

2

1978, 1979

Karl-Heinz Rummenigge

2

1980, 1981


Ballon d'Or winners by year

The Ballon d'Or was first handed out in 1956 when it was given to Blackpool and England legend Stanley Matthews. Most of the award's history is dominated by European footballers, with George Weah becoming the first non-European to win the prize in 1995. Eligibility rules were changed that year and Ronaldo later became the first South American winner in 1997.

Year

Player

Club

1956

Stanley Matthews

Blackpool

1957

Alfredo Di Stefano

Real Madrid

1958

Raymond Kopa

Real Madrid

1959

Alfredo Di Stefano

Real Madrid

1960

Luis Suarez

Barcelona

1961

Omar Sivori

Juventus

1962

Josef Masopust

Dukla Prague

1963

Lev Yashin

Dynamo Moscow

1964

Denis Law

Manchester United

1965

Eusebio

Benfica

1966

Bobby Charlton

Manchester United

1967

Florian Albert

Ferencvaros

1968

George Best

Manchester United

1969

Gianni Rivera

AC Milan

1970

Gerd Muller

Bayern Munich

1971

Johan Cruyff

Ajax

1972

Franz Beckenbauer

Bayern Munich

1973

Johan Cruyff

Barcelona

1974

Johan Cruyff

Barcelona

1975

Oleg Blokhin

Dynamo Kyiv

1976

Franz Beckenbauer

Bayern Munich

1977

Allan Simonsen

Borussia Monchengladbach

1978

Kevin Keegan

Hamburg

1979

Kevin Keegan

Hamburg

1980

Karl-Heinz Rummenigge

Bayern Munich

1981

Karl-Heinz Rummenigge

Bayern Munich

1982

Paolo Rossi

Juventus

1983

Michel Platini

Juventus

1984

Michel Platini

Juventus

1985

Michel Platini

Juventus

1986

Igor Belanov

Dynamo Kyiv

1987

Ruud Gullit

AC Milan

1988

Marco van Basten

AC Milan

1989

Marco van Basten

AC Milan

1990

Lothar Mattheus

Inter

1991

Jean-Pierre Papin

Marseille

1992

Marco van Basten

AC Milan

1993

Roberto Baggio

Juventus

1994

Hristo Stoichkov

Barcelona

1995

George Weah

AC Milan

1996

Matthias Sammer

Borussia Dortmund

1997

Ronaldo

Inter

1998

Zinedine Zidane

Juventus

1999

Rivaldo

Barcelona

2000

Luis Figo

Real Madrid

2001

Michael Owen

Liverpool

2002

Ronaldo

Real Madrid

2003

Pavel Nedved

Juventus

2004

Andriy Shevchenko

AC Milan

2005

Ronaldinho

Barcelona

2006

Fabio Cannavaro

Real Madrid

2007

Kaka

AC Milan

2008

Cristiano Ronaldo

Manchester United

2009

Lionel Messi

Barcelona

2010

Lionel Messi

Barcelona

2011

Lionel Messi

Barcelona

2012

Lionel Messi

Barcelona

2013

Cristiano Ronaldo

Real Madrid

2014

Cristiano Ronaldo

Real Madrid

2015

Lionel Messi

Barcelona

2016

Cristiano Ronaldo

Real Madrid

2017

Cristiano Ronaldo

Real Madrid

2018

Luka Modric

Real Madrid

2019

Lionel Messi

Barcelona

2021

Lionel Messi

Paris Saint-Germain

2022

Karim Benzema

Real Madrid


Multiple Ballon d'Or Feminin winners

The Ballon d'Or Feminin was only introduced in 2018 but France Football made Alexia Putellas the record winner with back-to-back awards in 2021 and 2022 for her phenomenal performances with Barcelona.

Player

Ballon d'Or wins

Years won

Alexia Putellas

2

2021, 2022


Ballon d'Or Feminin winners by year

Ada Hegerberg became the inaugural winner of the Ballon d'Or Feminin when she picked up the award in 2018. Megan Rapinoe was named the best player in the world the following year, largely for her role in the USWNT's World Cup triumph.

Year

Player

Club

2018

Ada Hegerberg

Lyon

2019

Megan Rapinoe

Reign FC

2021

Alexia Putellas

Barcelona

2022

Alexia Putellas

Barcelona


READ MORE ON THE 2023 BALLON D'OR NOMINATIONS AND PREDICTED RANKINGS

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