The world’s best men’s and women’s soccer players will gather in Paris at Theatre du Chatelet on Monday for the 2024 Ballon d’Or awards ceremony. It is the 68th edition of the hallowed gala event which French publication France Football has awarded to the best soccer players since 1956.
An international jury of journalists each selects 10 players with that order dictating how many points each player gets from 15 down to one with the highest points tally winning the Ballon d’Or.
Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi and Barcelona’s Aitana Bonmati are the current titleholders of the main prizes across both categories and it is widely considered to be the most prestigious individual award available to top soccer players. Messi is not even on this year’s 30-man shortlist so cannot hope to defend his eighth crown nor feature in the ranking of those top 30 players which will be published before the final three names are announced.
Bonmati won her first women’s category crown in 2023 and the award was only introduced back in 2018 and is in the field to defend her title. She could also emulate Barca teammate Alexia Putellas in winning consecutive awards — which would extend the Catalans’ dominance of the prize to four straight years since 2021.
Other awards on offer include the Kopa Trophy for the best under-21 talent which has been won by the likes of Real Madrid pair Kylian Mbappe and Jude Bellingham in the past and the Yashin Trophy for best goalkeeper which is currently Aston Villa’s Emi Martinez.
You can follow all of the latest from the French capital as the awards are dished out right here.