The Ballon d’Or 2019 ceremony is all set to take place on 2 December, Monday with as many as 30 nominees in the race to bag the award, organised by the France Football magazine- with a jury consisting of 180 journalists from around the globe.
Later tonight, the world will know who shall succeed Luca Modric as the Ballon d’Or winner. Modric had won the award last year after he played a crucial role in helping Croatia to the FIFA World Cup 2019 final. He even went on to win the Champions League with Real Madrid. Modric’s Ballon d’Or ended the Messi-Ronaldo duopoly as they were the only ones who were winning the coveted award in the decade preceding Modric’s claim on the award.
As far as the women’s Ballon d’Or are concerned, Ada Hegerberg of Norway had won the award in 2018 but may not retain her title as she missed featuring the FIFA Women’s World Cup. The Ballon d’Or 2019 panel for the women’s award is voted for by a jury comprising of 48 journalists.
In 2019, reports are claiming that Lionel Messi and Megan Rapinoe are in fact favourites to grab the award in the men’s and women’s category respectively.
Who all are nominated for 2019 Ballon d’Or?
Nominees for the Men’s Category are:
Sadio Mane (SEN/Liverpool), Sergio Aguero (ARG/Manchester City), Frenkie de Jong (NED/Barcelona), Hugo Lloris (FRA/Tottenham), Dusan Tadic (SER/Ajax), Kylian Mbappe (FRA/PSG), Trent Alexander-Arnold (ENG/Liverpool), Donny van de Beek (NED/Ajax), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (GAB/Arsenal), Marc-Andre ter Stegen (GER/Barcelona), Cristiano Ronaldo (POR/Juventus), Alisson (BRA/Liverpool), Matthijs de Ligt (NED/Juventus), Karim Benzema (FRA/Real Madrid), Georginio Wijnaldum (NED/Liverpool), Virgil van Dijk (NED/Liverpool), Bernardo Silva (POR/Manchester City), Son Heung-min (KOR/Tottenham), Robert Lewandowski (POL/Bayern Munich), Roberto Firmino (BRA/Liverpool), Lionel Messi (ARG/Barcelona), Riyad Mahrez (ALG/Manchester City), Kevin De Bruyne (BEL/Manchester City), Kalidou Koulibaly (SEN/Napoli), Antoine Griezmann (FRA/Barcelona), Mohamed Salah (EGY/Liverpool), Eden Hazard (BEL/Real Madrid), Marquinhos (BRA/Paris-SG), Raheem Sterling (ENG/Manchester City), Joao Félix(POR/Atletico Madrid).
Nominees for the Women’s category are:
Sam Kerr (AUS/Chelsea), Ellen White (ENG/Manchester City), Nilla Fischer (SWE/Linkopings), Amandine Henry (FRA/Lyon), Lucy Bronze(ENG/Lyon), Alex Morgan (USA/Orlando Pride), Vivianne Miedema (NED/Arsenal), Dzsenifer Marozsan (GER/Lyon), Pernille Harder (DEN/Wolfsburg), Sarah Bouhaddi (FRA/Lyon), Megan Rapinoe (USA/Reign FC), Lieke Martens (NED/Barcelona), Sari van Veenendal (NED/Atletico Madrid), Wendie Renard (FRA/Lyon), Rose Lavelle(USA/Washington Spirit), Marta (BRA/Orlando Pride), Ada Hegerberg (NOR/Lyon), Kosovare Asllani (SWE/CD Tacon), Sofia Jakobsson (SWE/CD Tacon), Tobin Heath (USA/Portland Thorns).
When to watch Ballon d’Or 2019?
The Ballon d’Or 2019 ceremony is going to be held at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris on 2 December. The official ceremony is expected to start around 19:30 GMT (1:00 AM, December 3, IST).
Where to watch Ballon d’Or 2019?
There has been no official confirmation on which television network is going to broadcast the event in India. However, the event will be broadcasted live on beIN Sports in the United States.
The official website of France Football is expected to have a live stream link like 2018.