It's Ballon d'Or night: No Messi, No Ronaldo, new era begins

Barcelona and Spain's breakout star Lamine Yamal was not born until three years after Cristiano Ronaldo's first Ballon d'Or nomination in 2004. He was only born in 2007 when Lionel Messi first featured in the top three of the rankings for the Best Player award presented annually by French magazine France Football.

This year, as Yamal features for the first time among the nominees for Ballon d'Or, both Messi and Cristiano are absent from the list. It is the first time since 2004 that a Ballon d'Or nominees list is devoid of both Messi and Cristiano.

Between them, Messi and Cristiano won the most prestigious individual award a combined 13 times over 16 years. Their unprecedented run of collective nominations that began in 2007 ended in 2022. That year, Messi, at PSG, had a mediocre season by his high standards and did not make the final list of 30. Last year, Messi returned to grab his eighth Ballon d'Or after an eventful 2022 saw him inspire Argentina to the World Cup. But Cristiano missed out.

Since 2008, only two players other than Messi and Cristiano have kissed the Ballon d'Or. First, Luka Modric in 2018, then Karim Benzema in 2022. Robert Lewandowski was primed to win it in 2020, but the ceremony was not held due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This year, as the gala ceremony will be held in Paris today, a new era in football will emerge, one without Messi and Cristiano.

Who is the favourite?
Real Madrid winger Vinicius Junior is the hot favourite to secure the Ballon d'Or this term. If he does, he will become the first winner born this century. A win in El Clasico would have added extra shine to Vini Jr's golden ball, but the Brazilian ended up on the losing side as arch-rivals Barcelona humiliated Real Madrid 4-0 the other day.

But Vini Jr's date with destiny is still being determined as Manchester City's midfield metronome Rodri is also counted among the favourites to win this year. Rodri would become the first player born in the 1990s to hold the Ballon d'Or if he managed to edge Vini Jr.

Then there are other serious contenders, namely France and Real Madrid star Kylian Mbappe, Manchester City hitman Erling Haaland and England and Real Madrid midfielder Jude Bellingham.

How are the winners decided?
Journalists from top 100 countries in FIFA rankings vote for the Ballon d'Or nominees. Each journalist is allowed to rank ten players in order, with points attributed to each position. The winner is the one that receives the most points. This year's event will begin at 1.15 am (IST) on Oct 29.

Men's Ballon d'Or nominees
Jude Bellingham (England, Real Madrid)
Hakan Calhanoglu (Turkiye, Inter)
Dani Carvajal (Spain, Real Madrid)
Rúben Dias (Portugal, Manchester City)
Artem Dovbyk (Ukraine, Dnipro/Girona /Roma)
Phil Foden (England, Manchester City)
Alejandro Grimaldo (Spain, Bayer Leverkusen)
Erling Haaland (Norway, Manchester City)
Mats Hummels (Germany, Borussia Dortmund)
Harry Kane (England, Bayern Munich)
Toni Kroos (Germany, Real Madrid)
Ademola Lookman (Nigeria, Atalanta)
Emiliano Martinez (Argentina, Aston Villa)
Lautaro Martinez (Argentina, Inter)
Kylian Mbappe (France, Paris Saint-Germain/Real Madrid)
Martin Odegaard (Norway, Arsenal)
Dani Olmo (Spain, Leipzig / Barcelona)
Cole Palmer (England, Manchester City/Chelsea)
Declan Rice (England, Arsenal)
Rodri (Spain, Manchester City)
Antonio Rudiger (Germany, Real Madrid)
Bukayo Saka (England, Arsenal)
William Saliba (France, Arsenal)
Federico Valverde (Uruguay, Real Madrid)
Vinicius Junior (Brazil, Real Madrid)
Vitinha (Portugal, Paris Saint-Germain)
Nico Williams (Spain, Athletic Club)
Florian Wirtz (Germany, Bayer Leverkusen)
Granit Xhaka (Switzerland, Bayer Leverkusen)
Lamine Yamal (Spain, Barcelona)