The most-awaited award ceremony of the 2023 Ballon d’Or, will get underway on Monday in Paris, France.
This year’s Ballon d’Or ceremony will take place at the Theatre du Chatelet.
The live streaming of the 2023 Ballon d’Or will be available on France Football’s official website and will start at 6 pm, Nigerian time.
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.
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.
