Ballon d'Or 2022: The most prestigious individual football award in the world will be given at the Theatre du Chatalet in Paris on Monday (October 17). Notably, the prestigious award ceremony takes place to award the best player in world football each year. The first Ballon d'Or was awarded in the year 1956. This year, Real Madrid's Karim Benzema is the favourite to win the award as he guided the Spanish giants to the UEFA Champions League and LaLiga title last season. Shockingly, 7-time Ballon d'Or winner Lionel Messi didn't make it to the top 30 list of the nominees for the Ballon d'Or 2022 award.
(Ballon d'Or 2022 winner: Karim Benzema to Robert Lewandowski, top contenders - In Pics)
The Ballon d'Or is awarded by the French news magazine France Football. PSG striker and one of the most prolific footballers in the world Lionel Messi will not be in the race for the Ballon d'Or for the first time in 2006. Messi has seven Golden Ball awards. However, for the year 2022, the Argentinia player is not on the list of the final 30 players. Things have not been easy for Messi, since his transfer to PSG as he has managed to score just 11 goals which are the lowest since 2005-06. In 34 matches he has just 15 assists to his name. (Kylian Mbappe to Lionel Messi: Top 5 HIGHEST-PAID footballers - In PICS)
Here's all you need to know about the Ballon d'Or 2022 ceremony:
The Ballon d'Or 2022 ceremony in which the winner will be awarded will take place on Tuesday (October 18).
The Ballon d'Or 2022 ceremony will be held at the Theatre du Chatalet in Paris.
The Ballon d'Or 2022 ceremony will start at 12:00 AM IST on October 18, Tuesday, (as per IST).
Good morning from Paris!
— Ballon d'Or #ballondor (@francefootball) October 17, 2022
Today is the day... #ballondor pic.twitter.com/WRfC98iGoU
The Ballon d'Or 2022 ceremony will be broadcasted live on the Sony TEN 2 and Sony TEN 2 HD TV channels in India.
The Ballon d'Or 2022 ceremony can be live-streamed on the SonyLiv and JioTV app and website in India.
Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid)
Rafael Leao (AC Milan)
Christopher Nkunku (RB Leipzig)
Karim Benzema (Real Madrid)
Riyad Mahrez (Manchester City)
Casemiro (Real Madrid)
Heung-Min Son (Tottenham)
Fabinho (Liverpool)
Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain)
Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich)
Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool)
Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid)
Bernardo Silva (Manchester City)
Luis Diaz (Liverpool)
Robert Lewandowski (Barcelona)
Mike Maignan (AC Milan)
Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur)
Darwin Nunez (Liverpool)
Phil Foden (Manchester City)
Sadio Mane (Bayern Munich)
Sebastien Haller (Borussia Dortmund)
Luka Modric (Real Madrid)
Antonio Rudiger (Real Madrid)
Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City)
Erling Haaland (Manchester City)
Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)
Dusan Vlahovic (Juventus)
Joao Cancelo (Manchester City)