Sadio Mane Karim Benzema Lewandowski Ballon d'Or nomineesGetty Images

Ballon d'Or 2022: Nominees, date & favourites for best player awards

The 66th edition of the prestigious Ballon d'Or award is set to take place earlier in the year than its predecessors due to a change in format from this year on.

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The reputed football prize, presented and nominated by France Football, and voted on by international journalists, will be awarded for performances of footballers over a full season from 2022 on. Previously, the prize was awarded for the players' displays in a calendar year.

Ballon d'Or 2021 was taken home by Lionel Messi who now has a record seven titles on his trophy shelf. In second place is Cristiano Ronaldo with a total of five, having last won it in 2017.

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Lionel Messi Ballon d'Or 2021Getty

Last year's Women's Ballon d'Or, also known as Ballon d'Or Féminin, was won by Alexis Putellas.

GOAL has everything you need to know about the dates, nominees and favourites for this season's Ballon d'Or.

Who are the Ballon d'Or 2022 nominees?

The nominees for the men's and women's Ballon d'Or 2022 were revealed on August 12, 2022.

The list of nominees were announced by France Football. Here are the full list of nominees for this year's award.

Player

Club

National team

Thibaut Courtois

Real Madrid

Belgium

Rafael Leao

AC Milan

Portugal

Christopher Nkunku

RB Leipzig

France

Mohamed Salah

Liverpool

Egypt

Joshua Kimmich

Bayern Munich

Germany

Trent Alexander-Arnold

Liverpool

England

Bernardo Silva

Manchester City

Portugal

Luis Diaz

Liverpool

Colombia

Robert Lewandowski

Barcelona

Poland

Riyad Mahrez

Manchester City

Algeria

Casemiro

Manchester United

Brazil

Heung-Min Son

Tottenham

South Korea

Fabinho

Liverpool

Brazil

Karim Benzema

Real Madrid

France

Mike Maignan

AC Milan

France

Harry Kane

Tottenham

England

Darwin Nunez

Liverpool

Uruguay

Phil Foden

Manchester City

England

Sadio Mane

Bayern Munich

Senegal

Sebastian Haller

Borussia Dortmund

Ivory Coast

Luka Modric

Real Madrid

Croatia

Antonio Rudiger

Real Madrid

Germany

Cristiano Ronaldo

Manchester United

Portugal

Kevin De Bruyne

Manchester City

Belgium

Dusan Vlahovic

Juventus

Serbia

Virgil van Dijk

Liverpool

Netherlands

Joao Cancelo

Manchester City

Portugal

Kylian Mbappe

Paris Saint-Germain

France

Erling Haaland

Manchester City

Norway

When will Ballon d'Or 2022 take place?

The Ballon d'Or 2022 ceremony will take place on October 17, 2022 at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris.

The ceremony will also feature the presentation of the Kopa Trophy (for the best performing player under the age of 21) and the Yashin Trophy (for the best goalkeeper). The Kopa Trophy was won by Pedri while Gianluigi Donnarumma bagged the Yashin Trophy in 2021.

Who are the Ballon d'Or 2022 favourites?

Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema is one of the clear favourites to win the Ballon d'Or 2022. The French forward helped Real Madrid lift both La Liga and Champions League and was influential in the European campaign that featured phenomenal wins over the likes of PSG and Manchester City.

Sadio Mane Liverpool 2021-22Getty Images

Sadio Mane could become the first African player to win the Ballon d'Or since George Weah in 1995. He is right behind Benzema in the favourites' list having scored 33 goals and helped his teams to Africa Cup of Nations, FA Cup & Carabao Cup success.

His former Liverpool teammate Mohamed Salah, Barcelona's new elite signing Robert Lewandowski and PSG's superstar strike Kylian Mbappe are some of the others in line with a chance to shine on the Ballon d'Or stage.

Read more on Ballon d'Or 2022

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