Ballon d’Or 2023 awards ceremony – live updates | Ballon d’Or

October 30, 2023 Stan

Key events

There are 30 nominees in the male category, and 11-30 have already been revealed.

2023 Men’s Ballon d’Or ranking:

1️⃣1️⃣ Mohamed Salah
1️⃣2️⃣ Robert Lewandowski
1️⃣3️⃣ Yassine Bounou
1️⃣4️⃣ Ilkay Gündogan
1️⃣5️⃣ Emiliano Martinez#ballondor pic.twitter.com/eyh8lx1KXW

— Ballon d’Or #ballondor (@ballondor) October 30, 2023

2023 Men’s Ballon d’Or ranking:

1️⃣6️⃣ Karim Benzema
1️⃣7️⃣ Khvicha Kvaratskhelia
1️⃣8️⃣ Jude Bellingham
1️⃣9️⃣ Harry Kane
2️⃣0️⃣ Lautaro Martinez#ballondor pic.twitter.com/Jw6RCYPQ2a

— Ballon d’Or #ballondor (@ballondor) October 30, 2023

2023 Men’s Ballon d’Or ranking:

2️⃣1️⃣ Antoine Griezmann
2️⃣2️⃣ Kim Min-jae
2️⃣3️⃣ André Onana
2️⃣4️⃣ Bukayo Saka
2️⃣5️⃣ Josko Gvardiol#ballondor pic.twitter.com/Bp9cDsrQHI

— Ballon d’Or #ballondor (@ballondor) October 30, 2023

2023 Men’s Ballon d’Or ranking:

2️⃣6️⃣ Jamal Musiala
2️⃣7️⃣ Nicolo Barella
2️⃣8️⃣ Randal Kolo Muani
2️⃣8️⃣ Martin Ødegaard
3️⃣0️⃣ Ruben Dias#ballondor pic.twitter.com/KG5pRpr9eZ

— Ballon d’Or #ballondor (@ballondor) October 30, 2023

Real Madrid are next off the production line. Jude Bellingham keeps it simple with a classic black tux, wheras Vinicius Jr is wearing a striking crushed orange velvet number.

Ilkay Gundogan, who made the shortlist this year for the first time in his career, also arrives with his male Barça teammates, Marc-Andre Ter Stegen and Alejandro Balde

Gundogan speaks to the cameras.

I’m a very happy man. The last few months have been great recently for my family. Finishing with the treble with Manchester City and now fulfilling a childhood dream to join Barça … it’s been a very good year.

The footballers are arriving at the Paris venue tonight, the Théâtre du Châtelet, which sounds a bit like an A-list actor if you mumble the words, but in fact is a rather fancy opera house and arts space in the 1st arrondissement.

Among them is the ‘Barcelona delegation’, which includes the favourite to win tonight, Aitana Bonmati, alongside numerous club and international teammates, most of which won the World Cup with Spain. Fridolina Rolfo, Salma Paralluelo, Mapi Leon are all there.

Preamble

Hello! Welcome to one of the most important events of the year, or a vanity fest that means nothing, depending on your disposition.

The reality of what this really means is probably somewhere in between the two. Football is a team sport, and team trophies will always be thing that people remember. The Ballon d’Or is not the measure by which legacies are decided. That said, it’s not a bad thing to have on your CV.

This being a World Cup year for both men’s and women’s football, it is not a shock to see the favourites for the two major awards come from Argentina men’s side and Spain’s women’s side. Lionel Messi is tipped to win his eighth trophy – no other male player has more than five – while Aitana Bonmati is in pole position to claim the Ballon d’Or Feminin. It would be a surprise to see someone else win tonight, but Erling Haaland and Olga Carmona have the best chance of causing a shock.

The main ceremony begins at 7.45pm GMT, 8.45pm local time (in Paris).

Here are the nominees in full for all four awards: