Ballon d’Or 2019: Everything you need to know

The Ballon d’Or 2019 ceremony will be held tonight at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, France.

Here is everything you may need to know about the awards ceremony.

Time

The ceremony is set to start at 9.30 pm (CAT) and the red carpet event at 7:30 pm.

How can I watch it?

The awards ceremony and the red carpet event will be live on SuperSport 3A (Ch. 223) for the rest of Africa and SuperSport 3 (Ch. 203) for viewers in South Africa.

France Football’s official website along with L’Equipe are expected to have a live stream.

Preview

Lionel Messi is the favourite to win the accolade but is facing firm competition from Liverpool defender Virgil Van Dijk. Should the Argentine be named the best player, it will be the sixth time in his career.

That would see the 32-year-old again move clear of his long-standing rival Cristiano Ronaldo in terms of the number of times they have each scooped the honour.

As for Van Dijk, he was one of just five defenders among the 30 Ballon d’Or nominees announced in October.

The 30 candidates for the Ballon d’Or – Men

Liverpool: Van Dijk, Firmino, Alisson, Wijnaldum, Alexander-Arnold, Mane and Salah
Manchester City: De Bruyne, Mahrez, Bernardo Silva, Aguero and Sterling
Barcelona: Leo Messi, Griezmann, Ter Stegen and De Jong
Real Madrid: Benzema and Hazard
Tottenham: Son and Lloris
Ajax: Van de Beek and Tadic
Juventus: Cristiano Ronaldo and De Ligt
PSG: Mbappe and Marquinhos
Atletico Madrid: Joao Felix
Napoli: Koulibaly
Bayern Munich: Lewandowski
Arsenal: Aubameyang

Best keeper award

Alisson (Liverpool), Ederson (Manchester City), Kepa Arrizabalaga (Chelsea), Lloris (Tottenham), Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich), Samir Handanovic (Inter Milan), Jan Oblak (Atletico Madrid), Andre Onana (Ajax), Wojciech Szczesny (Juventus) and Ter Stegen (Barcelona).

The Kopa Trophy (Presented to the best performing player under the age of 21)

Jadon Sancho (Borussia Dortmund), Moise Kean (Everton), Matteo Guendouzi (Arsenal), Matthijs de Ligt (Juventus), Vinicius Junior ( Real Madrid), Andriy Lunin (Valladolid), Kai Havertz (Bayer Leverkusen), Joao Felix (Atletico Madrid), Samuel Chukwueze (Villarreal), Lee Kang-in (South Korea).

Ballon d’Or – Women:

Sam Kerr (AUS/Chelsea), Ellen White (ENG/Manchester City), Nilla Fischer (SWE/Linkopings), Amandine Henry (FRA/Lyon), Lucy Bronze(ENG/Lyon), Alex Morgan (USA/Orlando Pride), Vivianne Miedema (NED/Arsenal), Dzsenifer Marozsan (GER/Lyon), Pernille Harder (DEN/Wolfsburg), Sarah Bouhaddi (FRA/Lyon), Megan Rapinoe (USA/Reign FC), Lieke Martens (NED/Barcelona), Sari van Veenendal (NED/Atletico Madrid), Wendie Renard (FRA/Lyon), Rose Lavelle(USA/Washington Spirit), Marta (BRA/Orlando Pride), Ada Hegerberg (NOR/Lyon), Kosovare Asllani (SWE/CD Tacon), Sofia Jakobsson (SWE/CD Tacon), Tobin Heath (USA/Portland Thorns).

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