When is the Ballon d’Or 2022 ceremony and when are nominees announced?
It is an event that has been dominated for the last decade by Messi and Ronaldo, so much is expected from the 2022 edition.
There are some people who get more excited about who has been named best player of the year than anything else. In fact, for the last 10 years or so, the battle to be ‘officially’ crowed the top player in the game has been a rather divisive one: two camps for either Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
This year’s award is not expected to see either of these two stars collect the top prize, although both players did their bit for Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester United respectively, and are always likely to have certain people on the voting panel who struggle to see past their enormous historical shadows.
When does the 2022 Ballon d’Or take place?
On Tuesday it was announced by France Football that this year’s event would be held on 17 October 2022, a few weeks prior to the World Cup in Qatar.
As well as the winners for the best male and female player of the season - note that it is being judged over the period August to July instead of calendar year this time - there will also be the young player and the goalkeeping awards, as we have become accustomed to in recent years.
When are the nominees announced?
France Football also confirmed that the nominees will be announced on 12 August 2022, so you’ll want to keep your mobile on you if heading to the beach around that time.
Who are the favourites for the Ballon d’Or men’s award?
Real Madrid surprised many this season by strolling to success in LaLiga and going all the way to the final of the Champions League, knocking out PSG and Manchester City on the way. One of the main reasons for their success has been the stunning form of Karim Benzema and the French striker tops the favourites list for the Men’s Best Player award.
Behind him come the likes of Liverpool duo Sadio Mané and Mohamed Salah, Bayern Munich goalgetter Robert Lewandowski and, a young man who’s been making some big decisions recently, PSG’s Kylian Mbappé.