The Ballon d'Or is the most prestigious individual award in world football, honouring the best of the best from a twisty, turning, dramatic calendar year.

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The men's and women's award winners will be crowned at a glitzy bash in Paris this evening, with plenty of strong opinions going into the ceremony.

French sports newspaper L'Équipe instituted the award in 1956, and it remains the barometer of which player stands above the rest in the global football consensus.

Lionel Messi scooped an unprecedented eighth title in 2023, a belated recognition of his World Cup-winning form at Qatar 2022 the previous winter.

The Ballon d'Or Féminin has been won by a Spanish player in the last three editions of the award, with Aitana Bonmatí scooping last year's title after back-to-back wins from Alexia Putellas.

RadioTimes.com has rounded up everything you need to know about how to watch the Ballon d'Or 2024 ceremony.

When is the Ballon d'Or 2024?

The Ballon d'Or 2024 ceremony will take place on Monday 28th October 2024.

It will begin at approximately 7pm UK time.

How to watch the Ballon d'Or 2024 on TV and live stream

The Ballon d'Or ceremony will be shown live on L'Équipe's YouTube channel for free with coverage of the whole ceremony.

Who will win the Ballon d'Or 2024?

The men's Ballon d'Or winner is expected to be Vinicius Junior following a terrific year for Real Madrid that saw the Spanish giants lift the La Liga and Champions League trophies.

The Brazilian star would become the seventh Los Blancos star to receive the honour this century. He is set to follow in the footsteps of Luís Figo, Ronaldo, Fabio Cannavaro, Cristiano Ronaldo, Luka Modrić and Karim Benzema, who won the award in 2022.

Other contenders in the mix include Rodri, who won Euro 2024 with Spain, and Jude Bellingham, who joined forces with Vinicius to torment defenders across the continent.

The women's Ballon d'Or winner is a more open race, with last year's winner Aitana Bonmatí ranked among the favourites.

Her Barcelona teammate Caroline Graham Hansen is a top contender, while the Norwegian forward's compatriot – and winner of the inaugural Ballon d'Or Feminin award in 2018 – Ada Hegerberg is on the outskirts of contention.

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Authors

Michael PottsSport Editor

Michael Potts is the Sport Editor for Radio Times, covering all of the biggest sporting events across the globe with previews, features, interviews and more. He has worked for Radio Times since 2019 and previously worked on the sport desk at Express.co.uk after starting his career writing features for What Culture. He achieved a first-class degree in Sports Journalism in 2014.

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