Last season’s top soccer player will be announced tonight at the Golden Ball awards ceremony. This year, the event will not take place in Paris as it does every year, but will be moved with great fanfare to London, to the historic “London Palladium,” as a tribute to the Englishman Stanley Matthews, the first winner in the award’s history in 1956.
Perhaps for the first time ever, the predictions are so… unpredictable, as at least four players have a very good chance of winning the top individual award: Lamine Yamal, LaLiga champion and World Cup champion with Spain, Harry Kane, who won the double with Bayern Munich and led England to the World Cup semifinals, Kylian Mbappé, who didn’t win a title but was the top scorer at the World Cup, LaLiga, and the Champions League; and last year’s winner, Ousmane Dembélé, who won the Champions League and the Ligue 1 title with Paris, while also reaching the World Cup semifinals.
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
The Ballon d’Or, as well as the other awards of the evening, will be decided by a jury consisting of 100 journalists from the 100 countries with the highest rankings according to FIFA.
The ceremony will begin at 8:30 p.m. The awards schedule is as follows:
10:06 p.m.: Awards for the best young talent (men and women).
10:17 p.m.: Awards for the best women’s team coach of the year.
10:29 p.m.: Awards for the best men’s team coach.
10:38 p.m.: Awards for the best goalkeeper.
10:47 PM: “Socrates” Award.
10:54 PM: Award for the best women’s team.
11:06 PM: Award for the best men’s team.
11:16 PM: Awards for the top male and female scorers.
11:38 PM: Announcement of the women’s award.
11:43 PM: Winner of the Men’s Golden Ball.
American-Moroccan rapper French Montana will perform at the ceremony. He will be joined on stage by English singer Jorja Smith.
The 30 nominees for the Golden Ball
Jude Bellingham – Real Madrid
Pau Kubarshi – Barcelona
Marc Cucurella – Chelsea / Real Madrid
Ousmane Dembélé – Paris Saint-Germain
Luis Díaz – Bayern Munich
Bruno Fernandes – Manchester United
Gabriel Magalhães – Arsenal
Erling Haaland – Manchester City
Achraf Hakimi – Paris Saint-Germain
Harry Kane – Bayern Munich
Kvicha Kvaratskhelia – Paris Saint-Germain
Lamine Yamal – Barcelona
Sadio Mané – Al-Nassr
Marquinhos – Paris Saint-Germain
Lautaro Martínez – Inter
Milan Kylian Mbappé – Real Madrid
: Nuno Mentes – Paris Saint-Germain
: Lionel Messi – Inter Miami
: João Neves – Paris Saint-Germain
: Michael Olise – Bayern Munich
: Willian Pacho – Paris Saint-Germain
: Julián Quiñones – Al-Kansia
: Declan Rice – Arsenal
: Rodri – Manchester City / Barcelona
: Fabián Ruiz – Paris Saint-Germain
: William Saliba – Arsenal
: Ferran Torres – Barcelona / Paris Saint-Germain
Dayot Upamecano – Bayern Munich
Vinícius Júnior – Real Madrid
Vitinha – Paris Saint-Germain
The 30 nominees for the Women’s “Ballon d’Or” are:
Selma Bacha (Lyon / France)
Barbara Banda (Orlando Pride / Zambia)
Esme Brugts (Barcelona / Netherlands)
Clara Bill (Bayern Munich / Germany)
Mariona Caldentei (Arsenal / Spain)
Scarlett Camperos (Club América / Mexico)
Kerstin Kaspar (Manchester City / Netherlands)
Temua Chawinga (Kansas City Carent / Malawi)
Kata Cole (Barcelona / Spain)
Melsey Dumorne (Lyon / Haiti)
Caroline Graham Hansen (Barcelona / Norway)
Alex Greenwood (Manchester City / England)
Patri Gicharo (Barcelona / Spain)
Pernille Harder (Bayern Munich / Denmark)
Yui Hasegawa (Manchester City / Japan)
Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC / USA)
Mapi León (Barcelona / Spain)
Lorena (Kansas City Caret /Brazil)
Melvin Malar (Manchester United, Chelsea /France)
Manaka Matsukubo (North Carolina Courage, Chelsea / Japan)
Vivian Miedema (Manchester City / Netherlands)
Ewa Pajór (Barcelona / Poland)
Wendy Renard (Lyon / France)
Alessia Russo (Arsenal / England)
Caroline Weir (Real Madrid, Lyon / Scotland)
Tessa Woulaert (Inter, Como / Belgium)
Hadija So (Manchester City / Jamaica)
Momoko Tanikawa (Bayern Munich / Japan)
Claudia Pina (Barcelona / Spain)
Alexia Putejas (Barcelona, London City / Spain)
The five nominees for the Best Men’s Team award are:
Paris Saint-Germain
, Arsenal
, Bayern Munich
, Flamengo
, and Bodø/Glimt
The five nominees for the Best Women’s Team award are:
Barcelona
, Bayern Munich
, Club América
, Manchester City
, and Lyon
The five nominees for the “Cruyff Trophy” in men’s soccer are:
Luis Enrique (Paris Saint-Germain)
, Luis de la Fuente (Spain National Team)
, Mikel Arteta (Arsenal)
, Unai Emery (Aston Villa)
, Vincent Kompany (Bayern Munich)
The five nominees for the “Cruyff Trophy” in women’s soccer are:
Yonatan Giraldez (Lyon)
Pere Romeu (Barcelona)
Andreje Jeflerc (Manchester City)
Niels Nielsen (former coach of the Japanese national team)
Elena Santiku (Celtic, Häcken)
The nominees for the men’s “Yassin Trophy” are:
Yassin Bouno (Al Hilal/Morocco)
Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid/Belgium)
Joan García (Barcelona/Spain)
Gregor Kobel (Dortmund/Switzerland)
Édouard Mendy (Al Ahly/Senegal)
David Raya (Arsenal/Spain)
Emiliano Martínez (Aston Villa/Argentina)
Vozinha (Colo-Colo/Cape Verde)
Unai Simón (Athletic Bilbao/Spain)
Matvey Shafonov (Paris Saint-Germain/Russia)
The five nominees for the women’s “Yassin Trophy” are:
Anne-Catherine Berger (Gothia/Germany)
Thata Cole (Barcelona/Spain)
Hannah Hampton (Chelsea/England)
, Lorena (Kansas City/Brazil)
, Ayaka Yamashita (Manchester City/Japan)
The 10 nominees for best male and female player under 21
The Kopa Trophy (awarded to the best young female player) will be awarded to women for the second year in a row, with five female nominees under 21.
The 10 nominees for the Kopa Trophy (Kopa/Best Male Player Under 21) are:
Kerim Alaibegović (Leverkusen, Juventus/Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Ayoub Bouadi (Lille, Manchester City/Morocco)
Pau Kubarshi (Barcelona/Spain)
Yann Diomandé (Leipzig, Real Madrid/Ivory Coast)
Lenar Karl (Bayern Munich/Germany)
Eli Junior Krupi (Bournemouth/France)
Lamine Yamal (Barcelona/Spain)
Warren Zaire-Emery (Paris Saint-Germain/France)
Johan Manzabi (Freiburg, Aston Villa/Switzerland)
Ibrahim Maza (Bayer Leverkusen/Algeria)
The five nominees for the Women’s Kopa Trophy are:
Lily Johannes (Lyon/USA)
Clara Serahordi (Barcelona/Spain)
Vicky López (Barcelona/Spain)
Virle Burman (Chelsea/Netherlands)
Felicia Schröder (Real Madrid/Sweden)
*photo source: AP
