How does Ballon d'Or voting work? Nominees and format explained

The most prestigious individual award in football underwent a historic change in 2022 as France Football announced the award would no longer be judged for a player's exploits over the calendar year.

So, last year, Karim Benzema became the first player in the 66-year (now 67) history of the Ballon d'Or to win the award based on his performances over the course of a season.

The game's two contemporary greats have dominated this award over the past decade and a half, and one's magical Middle Eastern fairytale renders him a strong favourite to win the award again in 2023. However, whether Lionel Messi wins his eighth crown will be decided by those gifted the power to vote.

Here's how voting for the 2023 Ballon d'Or will work.

2023 Ballon d'Or nominees

Ballon d'Or

30 players were nominated for the 2023 Ballon d'Or on Wednesday 6 September ahead of the 30 October ceremony.

Messi remains the favourite to win his eighth Ballon d'Or after he guided Argentina to World Cup glory in Qatar while enjoying a pretty productive season in Ligue 1 with PSG. However, he's expected to be run close by Man City striker Erling Haaland.

The Nordic machine broke the single-season Premier League scoring record during his debut campaign at the Etihad and finished 2022/23 with a mammoth 52 goals which helped his side to a historic treble.

Messi and Haaland are the overwhelming front runners and are sure bets to make this year's podium. The likes of Kevin De Bruyne, Vinicius Jr, Kylian Mbappe and Harry Kane will likely be vying for third place.

• 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

Ballon d'Or Feminin

Alexia Putellas won't get the chance to make it a three-peat of Ballon d'Or wins after successes in 2021 and 2022, not making the shortlist due to a severe injury suffered during 2022/23.

Her compatriots and fellow Women's World Cup winners Aitana Bonmati, Olga Carmona, Salma Paralluelo and Alba Redondo are also up for the award, as are defeated finalists Millie Bright, Rachel Daly, Mary Earps and Georgia Stanway.

Chelsea and Australia star Sam Kerr came third in both the 2021 and 2022 voting and could be a dark horse for the award after a brilliant Women's Super League season that preceded a few goalscoring appearances at the World Cup.

• 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

2023 Ballon d'Or voting format

The Ballon d'Or victor is decided by 100 journalists from FIFA's 100 top-ranked member nations. Each journalist makes their top five picks from the 30-man shortlist, with each ranking earning a different points value/number of votes.

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

As you'd expect, the player who picks up the most points in voting is named that year's Ballon d'Or victor.

Who won the 2022 Ballon d'Or?

Al Ittihad's new recruit and the freshest face of the Saudi Pro League, Karim Benzema is the current holder of the Ballon d'Or following his excellent 2021/22 season.

The Frenchman scored 44 times in all competitions and struck up a destructive relationship with Vinicius Jr as Real Madrid won La Liga and embarked on a miraculous Champions League knockout journey which culminated in Parisian glory against Liverpool.

Benzema scored crucial goals during the knockout stages as Real bypassed PSG, Chelsea and Man City in the most dramatic of fashions before beating Jurgen Klopp's Reds 1-0 in the final.

It was Benzema's maiden Ballon d'Or triumph and the striker became just the second player after Luka Modric to break the Cristiano Ronaldo/Messi stranglehold on the award since 2008.

Recent Ballon d'Or winners

Ballon d'Or Feminin winners

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