MANCHESTER, England — The Ballon d’Or winners will be announced on Monday with a new generation of soccer stars, led by Lamine Yamal and Kylian Mbappé, ready to stamp their name on the trophy that for so long was a personal duel between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. Messi, of course, is still in the running for soccer’s top individual prize at the age of 39 after his outstanding performances at the World Cup. And while it feels like this is the start of the Yamal-Mbappé era, Harry Kane’s outrageous goalscoring exploits could yet push that rivalry back by another year. The women’s award, won by Barcelona and Spain star Aitana Bonmati for the past three years, will go to someone else this time around. Bonmati is not on the shortlist after breaking her leg in December. Two-time winner Alexia Putellas is the favourite to lift the trophy for a third time. Here’s what to know about the Ballon d’Or, which is French for Golden Ball. Where and when is the Ballon d’Or ceremony? The ceremony will be staged at the London Palladium on Monday at 2000 GMT. It is the first time the annual ceremony is held outside France since 2015 and the first time in London. This year marks the 70th anniversary of the awards presented by French magazine France Football since 1956. The women’s award was created in 2018. The favourites to win the Ballon d’Or Of the 30-man shortlist for the men’s award, four names have dominated the conversation. Yamal, Mbappé, Kane and Messi are the favourites to lift the prize won last year by Ousmane Dembélé. Yamal was named the best young player for the last two years and after helping Spain to the World Cup and Barcelona to the Spanish title, he looks well-placed to win his first Ballon d’Or. Mbappé was long-expected to be confirmed the best player in the world before now, having won the 2018 World Cup at the age of 19. But, if anything, he has been slipping down the Ballon d’Or rankings, coming seventh last year. He had an outstanding season individually last term, even becoming the highest scorer in World Cup history, but did not lead Real Madrid or France to trophies. That could work against him. The opposite is true of Kane, who has been breaking goalscoring records in Germany and winning titles with Bayern Munich. He was also one of the top performers at the World Cup as England finished third. Messi just won’t go away Many might have expected Messi to leave the Ballon d’Or conversation after moving to MLS and Inter Miami., but the Argentine, who is widely regarded as the greatest player of all time, clearly had other ideas. He inspired Miami to its first MLS Cup last season and then rolled back the years to drive Argentina to within one win of back-to-back World Cups. Ultimately Argentina came up short in the final against Spain, but the tournament was undoubtedly lit up by Messi’s brilliance once again. Putellas back on top Putellas is favourite to win the women’s award after returning to her best to win the Champions League and Spanish title with Barcelona before joining London City Lionesses. The Spain star, who suffered ligament damage and watched as Bonmati overtook her as the best female soccer player in the world, can confirm her return to the summit of the sport by lifting the trophy again, albeit in the absence of the injured Bonmati. Leading contenders include Manchester City’s Khadija Shaw and Barcelona’s Claudia Pina. How the Ballon d’Or is judged Ultimately it is a matter of opinion — voted for by one journalist from each of FIFA’s top 100-ranked nations. The criteria include individual and team performances, “decisive and impressive character” and “class and fair play.” Each journalist picks 10 names from the 30 nominees in descending order, with each position scored on a basis of 15 points for the top choice and one for the 10th. The player with the highest number of points is awarded the Ballon d’Or. Tiebreakers include the number of first-place mentions, then second-place mentions and so on. Kane’s flying start won’t help him Kane just can’t stop scoring and the records keep on falling. Last month he became the fastest player to score 100 Bundesliga goals, reaching that landmark in just 98 appearances. Such outstanding form at the start of the season have only seemed to confirmed his march toward the Ballon d’Or. There’s just one problem -- the judging period ended after the World Cup. The official judging dates from Aug. 3, 2025 to July 19, 2026. Sure Kane’s numbers and his trophies over that period have already put him well in the frame to lift the award, but if the start of this campaign had been included as well, his case to be called the best player in the world would have been even stronger. Most wins Messi holds the record with eight wins, his most recent coming in 2023. Cristiano Ronaldo is next on the list with five wins, the last in 2017. Michel Platini, Johan Cruyff and Marco van Basten have three each. It’s not just about the Ballon d’Or Also presented at the ceremony are awards for the men’s and women’s young talent, goalkeeper, coach, club and striker. There is also the Socrates Award for “solidarity initiatives and societal causes.” James Robson, The Associated Press
