Seven prestigious awards will be presented at the 66th Ballon d’ Or Award Ceremony with both men’s and women’s players of the year to be recognized along with the Kopa Trophy (for the best performing player under the age of 21) and the Yashin Trophy (for the best goalkeeper). The newly named Muller Award (after legendary German striker Gerd Muller) will also be confirmed for the best striker, along with the Socrates Award marking the best social initiatives within the game along with the club of the year prize. France Football organizers of the awards confirmed that the players’ performance from the seasons and not the calendar year would be considered. This year’s event is scheduled to hold Monday, 17 October at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris
In August, a 30-man shortlist was confirmed by France Football and most believe that the Real Madrid and France striker Kazim Benzema is highly tipped to scoop this year’s top award. Messi had previously won the award seven times.
Below is the shortlisted players and their teams:
- Thibaut Courtois– Real Madrid
- Rafael Leao– AC Milan
- Christopher Nkunku– RB Leipzig
- Mohamed Salah – Liverpool
- Joshua Kimmich– Bayern Munich
- Trent Alexander-Arnold– Liverpool
- Vinicius Junior– Real Madrid
- Bernardo Silva– Manchester City
- Luis Diaz – Porto/Liverpool
- Robert Lewandowski– Bayern Munich/Barcelona
- Riyad Mahrez– Manchester City
- Casemiro– Real Madrid/Manchester United
- Son Heung-min – Tottenham Hotspur
- Fabinho– Liverpool
- Karim Benzema– Real Madrid
- Mike Maignan– AC Milan
- Harry Kane – Tottenham Hotspur
- Darwin Nunez– Benfica/Liverpool
- Phil Foden– Manchester City
- Sadio Mane– Liverpool/Bayern Munich
- Sebastien Haller– Ajax/Borussia Dortmund
- Luka Modric– Real Madrid
- Antonio Rudiger– Chelsea/Real Madrid
- Cristiano Ronaldo– Manchester United
- Kevin De Bruyne– Manchester City
- Dusan Vlahovic– Fiorentina/Juventus
- Virgil van Dijk– Liverpool
- Joao Cancelo– Manchester City
- Kylian Mbappe– Paris Saint-Germain
- Erling Haaland– Borussia Dortmund/Manchester City
Who do you think will take the award home this year?