2023 Ballon d’Or: All You Need To Know About Tonight’s Award, Time, Venue, and Full List of Nominees

Everything you need to know about the 2023 Ballon d’Or ceremony, including how to watch live.

The Ballon d’Oris one of the most prestigious individual football awards that can be won by a soccer player each year. Established in 1956, France Football’s Golden Ball accolade returns for the 67th year in 2023.

The most-awaited award ceremony of the 2023 Ballon d’Or, will get underway on today e at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris, France.

The live streaming of the 2023 Ballon d’Or will be available on France Football’s official website and will start at 6pm, Nigerian time, approximately 6 pm GMT in the UK, which means viewers in the U.S. should be preparing to tune in at 2 pm E

Former Real Madrid striker, Karim Benzema won the last edition of the prestigious award after beating the likes of Sadio Mane and Kevin de Bruyne.

However, there are three strong contenders – Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi, Manchester City’s Erling Haaland and Paris Saint-Germain’s Kylian Mbappe for this year’s Ballon d’Or.

Messi won the FIFA World Cup last year and also the Best Player award for the tournament. He also won the French Ligue title with PSG before leaving the club to join Inter Miami in the summer.

Lionel Messi has been tipped to win a record-extending eighth Ballon d’Or award tonight following his World Cup-winning exploits last year.

Haaland, meanwhile, won the Champions League, FA Cup and the Premier League title with Man City. He also scored a record 52 goals in all competitions last season.

Mbappe, on his part, led France to a second finish at the World Cup after they lost to Argentina in the final. He won the Golden Boot for the top scorer in the competition and also won the French Ligue 1 title with PSG.

Other contenders are André Onana, Josko Gvardiol, Karim Benzema, Jamal Musiala, Mohamed Salah, Jude Bellingham, Bukayo Saka, Randal Kolo Muani, Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva, Emiliano Martínez and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.

The remaining includes Rúben Dias, Nicolo Barella, Yassine Bounou, Martin Ødegaard, Julián Álvarez, Ilkay Gündogan, Vinícius Júnior, Rodri, Lautaro Martínez, Antoine Griezmann, Robert Lewandowski, Kylian Mbappé, Kim Min-jae, Victor Osimhen, Luka Modric and Harry Kane.

Who will be crowned football’s king this year? … Kindly share your predictions with us in the comment section below.