Ballon d’Or 2023 – announcement, nominations, winners, stream

Football’s Ballon d’Or is traditionally one of the most watched events on the planet. It is also the most prestigious individual award a football player can receive. This year it will be awarded on 30 October in Paris. Where can you watch the ceremony and who are the previous winners?

Ballon d’Or 2023:

The Ballon d’Or, as an award of the French magazine France Football, has been awarded since 1956. It was first won by Stanley Matthews, then a Blackpool footballer. Lionel Messi has the most wins, having won the Ballon d’Or seven times.

The award is given to a player based on their performance in a season, not a calendar year. In this case, it is the 2022/23 edition, which is voted on by journalists from all over the world. This year’s new winner will be announced on 30 October 2023 in Paris.

The Ballon d’Or social media account summarises the voting criteria as follows:

1. Individual performances, decisive actions and behaviour on the pitch
2. Crucial roles in the team and trophies
3. Fair-play and classy behaviour

Where to watch the Ballon d’Or 2023?

French newspaper L’Équipe is expected to broadcast the event on its YouTube channel, and last year the broadcast could be found on Eurosport’s website.

Ballon d’Or nominations

The nominations for the Ballon d’Or were announced by the organisers on 6 September 2023. This year, the following 30 names will be competing for the overall title. Cristiano Ronaldo is missing from the 2023 nomination, the first time this has happened since 2003.

The biggest favourite to win is the star Messi. He led Argentina to gold at the World Cup in Qatar. In the event of an overall victory, he would win the Ballon d’Or for the eighth time. The other hot candidate is Erling Haaland. The Norwegian striker helped Manchester City to a treble and scored 52 goals.

Ballon d’Or winners

As we wrote above, Stanley Matthews won the Ballon d’Or award for the first time, with Argentina’s Messi recording the most wins.

Behind him is Cristiano Ronaldo with five triumphs. Only five players in the history of football have managed to win the Ballon d’Or more than three times. Twice the award has been given to ten footballers.

The last two years, two players have been among the winners of the prestigious trophy. Messi won the Ballon d’Or 2021, and Karim Benzema won the Ballon d’Or 2022. In 2020, the famous award was not given due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Johan Cruijff, Michel Platini and Marco van Basten are the closest to Messi and Ronaldo with three championships. However, among active footballers, no one has won more than one.

Ballon d’Or winners over the last 10 years

In addition to the winners of the Ballon d’Or over the last ten years, the attached table shows the footballers who came second and third. And, as we write above, the announcement did not take place in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Source: The Independent, Eurosport, BBC Sports