Excitement for the 2024 Ballon d’Or ceremony continues to grow as the nominees for a host of awards have been revealed.
With 2023 winner Lionel Messi and five-time winner Cristiano Ronaldo left out of the Ballon d’Or nominations, a new face will win the award in 2024. There could also be new winners of the Kopa Trophy and the Yashin Trophy, which will be awarded to the best young player and goalkeeper respectively.
Yes, there is also a Ballon d’Or Feminin award to be presented at the upcoming ceremony. Aitana Bonmati won the award for the first time last year and will face competition from her Barcelona teammates as she looks to make it back to back wins.
Here’s everything you need to know about the 2024 Ballon d’Or event.
The 2024 Ballon d’Or is the 68th edition, and the first person to receive this award was England’s Stanley Matthews from 1956. This year’s event will take place on Monday 28 October at the Theater du Chatelet in Paris – this same venue. which has hosted this award since 2019.
The times have been confirmed by UEFA and France Football, which are the participants of the October event, which will start at 19:00 GMT.
Those interested in watching the 2024 Ballon d’Or event are in luck, the event is being streamed for free on L’Equipe’s YouTube channel.
The list of 30 players who will win the 2024 Ballon d’Or has been released, with some surprising names to win. Real Madrid and Manchester City boast the players who are most likely to win this year’s award.
Vinicius Junior is one of the big favourites, with the Brazilian star who stood out for Real Madrid last season. He scored in the Champions League final against 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 first season with Real Madrid. He won the club’s and La Liga’s player of the season awards and was instrumental in a struggling England side reaching the finals of Euro 2024 in the summer.
Spain’s two Euro 2024 winners are also in trouble. One of those is Madrid’s Dani Carvajal, a right-back who also scored in last season’s Champions League final at Wembley Stadium. Another is Rodri, who played a major role in Manchester City winning another Premier League title, and also won Euro 2024’s Player of the Tournament.
The list of 30 female nominees for the Ballon d’Or Feminin has been revealed, with 2023 champion Bonmati the favorite to win a second consecutive award. The Barcelona midfielder scored in the Champions League final when the Catalan giants beat Lyon. He also scored a further 18 goals as Barca completed the treble, while being named UEFA Nations League MVP as Spain emerged victorious.
Bonmati’s Barca teammates are also nominated. In fact, Barca boasts eight nominated players playing for them or wearing their jersey in the 2023/24 season. Among them, Salma Paraluelo, Caroline Graham Hansen and Mariona Caldeney (now at Arsenal) are likely to receive important votes.
Just ten have been nominated for the Kopa Trophy, named after 1958 Ballon d’Or winner Raymond Kopa and awarded to the best male under-21 player.
From the Premier League, Man City summer signing Savinho and Manchester United duo Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo have a chance to win. Karim Konate of RB Salzburg is the only player currently outside Europe’s top five leagues to be selected, although Joao Neves, now of Paris Saint-Germain, joined Benfica last season.
However, it feels inevitable that Barcelona wonderkid and Euro 2024 star Lamine Yamal will win the award. He enjoyed a breakout season with La Blaugrana and won Young Player of the Tournament at the Euros, as well as scoring the Spanish Champions League goal.
The Yashin Trophy has been around since 2019 and, with the 2020 event being cancelled, has seen only four winners. They are Alisson, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Thibaut Courtois and, most recently, Emiliano Martinez.
The Argentinian has been nominated for the award again but faces tough competition to retain his title. Donnarumma is the only former champion to steal it, while the likes of Mike Maignan, Gregor Kobel and new Liverpool boss Giorgi Mamadashvili have also been named among the nominees.
READ MORE ON THE 2024 BALLON D’OR NOMINEE AND FAVORITES
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