Ballon d’Or 2019: Time, broadcast listings, and candidates for Monday's awards

Topics: Ballon d'Or 2019, Ballon d'Or Féminin, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Virgil Van Dijk, Megan Rapinoe, Alex Morgan, Sam Kerr, Marta, Juventus, Barcelona, Liverpool

Messi, Van Dijk, or Cristiano will be awarded the 2019 Ballon d'Or in Monday's ceremony. Here's everything you need to know.

It’s that time of year again. December is here and with it comes everyone’s favorite individual prize: the Ballon d’Or. France Football will reveal the latest winner of their coveted accolade, with fans eagerly waiting to see the winner of the 2019 edition.

While France Football has introduced two new awards to their gala last year, the men’s prize is the one grabbing all the headlines. Lionel Messi, Virgil Van Dijk, and Cristiano Ronaldo are battling it out for this prize, with the Liverpool defender aiming to beat the two five-time winners.

Will he? Here’s everything you need to know about the 2019 Ballon d’Or.

When and where will the 2019 Ballon d’Or take place?

The ceremony is set to take place on Sunday, December 02, 2019 at the Théâtre du Châtelet. The event is set to kick off at 14:30 ET/19:30 GMT.

Who are the nominees for the 2019 Ballon d’Or?

A 30-man shortlist was revealed back in October, with France Football nominating the thirty best players in world football for the year of 2019. Among these candidates, the winner shall be chosen. Here is the 30-man shortlist:

Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool and Netherlands)
Bernardo Silva (Man City and Portugal)
Heung-min Son (Tottenham and Korea Republic)
Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich and Poland)
Roberto Firmino (Liverpool and Brazil)
Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus and Portugal)
Alisson Becker (Liverpool and Brazil)
Matthijs de Ligt (Ajax/Juventus and the Netherlands)
Karim Benzema (Real Madrid)
Georginio Wijnaldum (Liverpool and the Netherlands)
Kylian Mbappé (PSG and France)
Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool and England)
Donny van de Beek (Ajax and the Netherlands)
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Arsenal and Gabon)
Marc-André ter Stegen (Barcelona and Germany)
Sadio Mané (Liverpool/Senegal)
Sergio Agüero (Man City and Argentina)
Frenkie de Jong (Ajax/Barcelona and the Netherlands)
Hugo Lloris (Tottenham and France)
Dusan Tadic (Ajax and Serbia)
Lionel Messi (Barcelona and Argentina)
Riyad Mahrez (Man City and Algeria)
Kevin De Bruyne (Man City and Belgium)
Kalidou Koulibaly (Napoli and Senegal)
Antoine Griezmann (Atlético Madrid/Barcelona and France)
Mohamed Salah (Liverpool and Egypt)
Eden Hazard (Chelsea/Real Madrid and Belgium)
Marquinhos (PSG and Brazil)
Raheem Sterling (Man City and England)
João Félix (Benfica/Atlético and Portugal)

How will the winner of the 2019 Ballon d’Or be chosen?

The winner will be chosen by journalists from all over the world, with each voting for their top five best players of the calendar year. The number one choice is handed six points, with the remaining four receiving four, three, two, and one point respectively. The votes will then be calculated and the person with the most points will walk away with the award. The ranking of the 30 finalists will also be revealed.

Lionel Messi describes how much the Ballon d’Or means to him

(via @OTRO) pic.twitter.com/bymOEMALRU
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) November 26, 2019

Who is the favorite for the 2019 Ballon d’Or?

While 30 players have been nominated, realistically, only three men are competing for the prize. As mentioned above, they are Messi, Cristiano, and Van Dijk.

According to the latest rumors, Leo has won the 2019 Ballon d’Or, with sources claiming France Football has already informed the Argentine legend. This is not impossible as the winner is featured on their magazine and a photoshoot would be needed. If true, he will add this to his recent The Best FIFA Men’s Player triumph.

Leo will reportedly win a record sixth Ballon d'Or on Monday

Boom!
Lionel Messi won Ballon d’Or 2019!

(confirmation with details coming now from very well informed @FApor_elmundo )
— Tancredi Palmeri (@tancredipalmeri) November 26, 2019

Van Dijk was the odds-on favorite and could still pip Messi to the prize, as nothing is official yet. The Dutch defender enjoyed a tremendous season with Liverpool, winning the Champions League and the UEFA Men’s Player of the Year prize.

Not everyone believes Messi deserves the 2019 Ballon d'Or

Messi is arguably the greatest to have ever played the game but he hasn't had a better 2019 than Van Dijk. The commanding #LFC defender deserves that Ballon d'Or on Monday in Paris.
— James Pearce (@JamesPearceLFC) November 30, 2019

What are the other awards?

Ballon d'Or Féminin will be given to the player voted as the best women’s footballer of 2019. Last year’s inaugural prize Ada Hegerberg but Megan Rapinoe is the favorite to clinch it this time around. Here are the nominees:

Kosovare Asllani (CD Tacon and Sweden)
Ada Hegerberg (Lyon and Norway)
Tobin Heath (Portland Thorns and the USA)
Sofia Jakobsson (CD Tacion and Sweden)
Rose Lavelle (Washington Spirit and the USA)
Marta (Orlando Pride and Brazil)
Lieke Martens (Barcelona and Netherlands)
Megan Rapinoe (Reign FC and USA)
Wendie Renard (Lyon and France)
Sari van Veenendal (Atlético and the Netherlands)
Sarah Bouhaddi (Lyon and France)
Lucy Bronze (Lyon and England)
Nilla Fischer (Linköpings and Sweden)
Pernille Harder (Wolfsburg and Denmark)
Amandine Henry (Lyon and France)
Sam Kerr (Chicago Red Stars and Australia)
Dzsenifer Marozsan (Lyon and Germany)
Viviane Miedema (Arsenal and Netherlands)
Alex Morgan (Orlando Pride and the USA)
Ellen White (Man City and England)

The Kopa Trophy was also introduced last year with the sole purpose of recognizing the best player under the age of 21 in world football. Kylian Mbappe was the inaugural winner but is not up for the award this time around, meaning we will have a new recipient. Here are the nominees:

Matthijs de Ligt (Ajax/Juventus and the Netherlands)
Vinicius (Real Madrid and Brazil)
Kai Havertz (Bayer Leverkusen and Germany)
Mattéo Guendouzi (Arsenal and France)
Andriy Lunin (Real Madrid/Real Valladolid and Ukraine)
João Félix (Benfica/Atlético and Portugal)
Jadon Sancho (Dortmund and England)
Moise Kean (Juventus/Everton and Italy)
Samu Chukwueze (Villarreal and Nigeria)
Kang-in Lee (Valencia and Korea Republic)

And finally, we have the Yacine Trophy for the best goalkeeper in the world. This trophy has Alisson’s name written all over it. Here are the finalists: