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

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

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 nominees - revealed

2023 Ballon d'Or Feminin nominees

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

• 2023 Ballon d'Or Feminin nominees - revealed

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.

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.

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.

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.

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