Everything we know about the Ballon d'Or 2024: Venue, date, nominees and more

The Ballon d'Or is almost upon us. Football is a team sport, but once a year the great and the good get to throw on their glad rags and make it all about themselves for an evening.

Since 1956, when England ’s very own Stanley Matthews picked up the inaugural award – while turning out for Blackpool, obviously – the football world has gathered annually to celebrate the best player for that year. The trophy has been caught in a stranglehold between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi for 15 years, with only Real Madrid duo Luka Modric and Karim Benzema able to get in there and split it up.

But with no former winner nominated this time, we could be set for an interesting edition. Here’s everything you need to know about this year’s Ballon d’Or…

Date

When is the Ballon d’Or happening?

The main event is due to take place on Monday October 28 .

Current bookies favourite Vinícius Junior has the small matter of El Clasico to deal with the day before, so eyebrow-raising boss Carlo Ancelotti will hope the whole thing isn’t getting to his head.

Although half of Vini's Los Blancos stablemates will be with him for the journey anyway, which should help keep the winger’s feet on the ground.

Location

Where is the Ballon d’Or being held?

Like seemingly every big event at the moment, those involved will be heading to Paris, France .

Although, in fairness, this is where the ceremony is typically held, given that the award was first dreamt up and is still operated partly by French magazine France Football. As in previous years, since 2019, the nominees will be heading to Theatre du Chatelet, just off the Seine in the capital.

There they will be met by their hosts for the evening, French journalist and presenter Sandy Heribert and former Chelsea talisman Didier Drogba , who has been nominated for the gong himself a whopping eight times.

Nominations

Who has been nominated for the Ballon d’Or 2024?

Exploits in the Africa Cup of Nations , Euro 2024 , Copa America , and all the traditional domestic and continental competitions, will be the basis of the decision this year.

It’s therefore little surprise that Champions League , La Liga and UEFA Super Cup winners Real Madrid are the best-represented side on the night.

But they’re followed relatively closely by perennial winners Manchester City and professional runners-up Arsenal . Surprise German package Bayern Leverkusen got a considerable contingent attending.

Here are the 30 Ballon d’Or nominees in full:

• Jude Bellingham (England and Real Madrid)
• Hakan Calhanoglu (Turkiye and Inter)
• Dani Carvajal (Spain and Real Madrid)
• Ruben Dias (Portugal and Manchester City)
• Artem Dovbyk (Ukraine and Girona/Roma)
• Phil Foden (England and Manchester City)
• Alejandro Grimaldo (Spain and Bayern Leverkusen)
• Erling Haaland (Norway and Manchester City)
• Mats Hummels (Germany and Borussia Dortmund)
• Harry Kane (England and Bayern Munich)
• Toni Kroos (Germany and Real Madrid)
• Ademola Lookman (Nigeria and Atalanta)
• Emiliano Martinez (Argentina and Aston Villa)
• Lautaro Martinez (Argentina and Inter)
• Kylian Mbappe (France and Paris Saint-Germain/Real Madrid)
• Martin Odegaard (Norway and Arsenal)
• Dani Olmo (Spain and RB Leipzig/Barcelona)
• Cole Palmer (England and Chelsea)
• Declan Rice (England and Arsenal)
• Rodri (Spain and Manchester City)
• Antonio Rudiger (Germany and Real Madrid)
• Bukayo Saka (England and Arsenal)
• William Saliba (France and Arsenal)
• Federico Valverde (Uruguay and Real Madrid)
• Vinicius Junior (Brazil and Real Madrid)
• Vitinha (Portugal and Paris Saint-Germain)
• Nico Williams (Spain and Athletic Club)
• Florian Wirtz (Germany and Bayer Leverkusen)
• Granit Xhaka (Switzerland and Bayer Leverkusen)
• Lamine Yamal (Spain and Barcelona)

Judging

How is the Ballon d’Or decided?

The award is decided and voted by a jury of football journalists — good luck to anyone who ends up in that deliberation room — from the top 100 countries in the FIFA Men’s ranking.

Each journalist creates a shortlist of five names and orders them from first pick to last, with their top choice earning the most points and their fifth pick the least. The points from all the journalists are then added together to decide the winner.

The period in question is August 2023 to July 2024, with the press basing their decisions on personal performance, achievements with their respective teams and fair play.

With Messi and Ronaldo out of the picture, there could be some tough calls to crown the new winner.

More Ballon d'Or stories

Ballon d'Or 2024 power rankings: Jude Bellingham up against Real Madrid teammates

The lost generation of the Ballon d'Or: Will a 90s-born player ever win the award?