EVERY footballer dreams of helping their club win trophies – but lifting the Ballon d’Or is the one individual award that tops all.

Lionel Messi picked up his eighth gong last year after leading Argentina to their first World Cup title win since 1986 during the 2022 competition.

1

However, it was seen as a controversial decision due to Messi’s underwhelming season at club level compared to Erling Haaland who fired Manchester City to an incredible Treble.

Organisers are set to have an even tougher task in choosing the winners this time round with the likes of Real Madrid duo Jude Bellingham and Vinicius Jr having outstanding seasons for their club.

Also, there a massive shouts for Rodri to get his hands on the after playing a vital role in Spain’s Euro 2024 triumph.

Either way, SunSport has all the information on when the Ballon d’Or 2024 winner will be announced.

And you can keep scrolling to find out.

When is the Ballon d’Or 2024 winner announced?

• The Ballon d’Or 2024 winner will be announced on Monday, October 28.
• It is scheduled to get underway at 7pm GMT, 2pm ET and 8pm local time.
• Theatre du Chatelet in Paris, France is the allocated arena for this huge ceremony and it can host approximately 2,500 spectators.

Where can I watch the Ballon d’Or 2024 for FREE?

The Ballon d’Or 2024 awards ceremony will be streamed live for FREE on L’Equipe’s YouTube channel.

What are the Ballon d’Or 2024 nominees?

Below are the 30 players who have been nominated for this year’s Ballon d’Or.

• Jude Bellingham (England and Real Madrid)
• Ruben Dias (Portugal and Manchester City)
• Phil Foden (England and Manchester City)
• Federico Valverde (Uruguay and Real Madrid)
• Emiliano Martinez (Argentina and Aston Villa)
• Erling Haaland (Norway and Manchester City)
• Nico Williams (Spain and Athletic Bilbao)
• Granit Xhaka (Switzerland and Bayer Leverkusen)
• Artem Dovbyk (Ukraine and Roma)
• Toni Kroos (former Germany and Real Madrid)
• Vinicius Jr (Brazil and Real Madrid)
• Dani Olmo (Spain and Barcelona)
• Florian Wirtz (Germany and Bayer Leverkusen)
• Martin Odegaard (Norway and Arsenal)
• Mats Hummels (Germany, free agent)
• Rodri (Spain and Manchester City)
• Harry Kane (England and Bayern Munich)
• Declan Rice (England and Arsenal)
• Vitinha (Portugal and Paris St-Germain)
• Cole Palmer (England and Chelsea)
• Dani Carvajal (Spain and Real Madrid)
• Lamine Yamal (Spain and Barcelona)
• Bukayo Saka (England and Arsenal)
• Hakan Calhanoglu (Turkey and Inter Milan)
• William Saliba (France and Arsenal)
• Kylian Mbappe (France and Real Madrid)
• Lautaro Martinez (Argentina and Inter Milan)
• Ademola Lookman (Nigeria and Atalanta)
• Antonio Rudiger (Germany and Real Madrid)
• Alejandro Grimaldo (Spain and Bayer Leverkusen)

What has been said?

Real Madrid star Rodrygo is not happy with the nominations despite seeing his teammates selected to potentially win the Ballon d’Or.

Rodrygo told ESPN regarding his snub: “I was upset, I think I deserved it. I don’t want to belittle the players who are there, but I think I had a place in the 30. It was a surprise… But there’s not much I can do, I’m not the one who decides these things.”

Who has won the most Ballon d’Ors?

Here is a list of all the multiple-time Ballon d’Or winners:

• Lionel Messi – 8 (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019, 2021, 2023)
• Cristiano Ronaldo – 5 (2008, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017)
• Michel Platini – 3 (1983, 1984, 1985)
• Johan Cruyff – 3 (1971, 1971, 1974)
• Marco van Basten – 3 (1988, 1989, 1992)
• Franz Beckenbauer – 2 (1972, 1976)
• Ronaldo – 2 (1997, 2002)
• Alfredo Di Stefano – 2 (1957, 1959)
• Kevin Keegan – 2 (1978, 1979)
• Karl-Heinz Rummenigge – 2 (1980, 1981)

LAS VEGAS – Jean Matsumoto beat Brad Katona with a unanimous decision Saturday on the preliminary card at UFC Fight Night 245 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

Take a look inside the fight with Matsumoto, who stayed unbeaten with a win over a two-time “Ultimate Fighter” winner.

Jean Matsumoto def. Brad Katona

Jean Matsumoto

Result: Jean Matsumoto def. Brad Katona via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Updated records: Matsumoto (16-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC), Katona (16-4 MMA, 4-4 UFC)
Key stats: Katona landed more total strikes, landed at a higher percentage, had more total control time, had three takedowns – but lost on all three judges’ scorecards.

Matsumoto on the fight’s key moment

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – OCTOBER 19: (L-R) Jean Matsumoto of Brazil kicks Brad Katona of Canada in a bantamweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at UFC APEX on October 19, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)

“Regardless of the result, I’m going to go for it and I’m going to be always looking to finish. … That’s the style of fighting I give. I’m going to give my all. I’m going to leave everything out there. If my opponent is prepared, that’s the fight they’re going to get. If my opponent is not prepared, it’s going to end soon.”

Matsumoto on hopes to get his father to one of his U.S. fights

Jean Matsumoto def. Brad Katona, UFC Fight Night 245 (via UFC)

“My dad is actually one of my coaches. He tried to get his visa for the fourth time, even with the letter from the UFC, but unfortunately he wasn’t able to make it. For me to be in the UFC is already one of his dreams come true. But for him to be here would be another dream coming true. It would be great. The first thing I do is actually call my dad and my mom. They’re so happy to see me win. He hasn’t done any (post-fight) coaching yet. I haven’t heard any bad things that I did today. But I’m sure he’s going to say something.”

Matsumoto on what he wants next

LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY – JUNE 08: Raul Rosas Jr. reacts after his victory against Ricky Turcios in a bantamweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at KFC YUM! Center on June 08, 2024 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

“I don’t choose opponents. I prepare myself all the time to actually face whoever it is that they put in front of me. Listen, I’ve asked for Raul Rosas Jr. a couple of times. They didn’t give it to me. But whoever they give me, it doesn’t matter: I’ll be prepared to take on the world.”

To hear more from Matsumoto, check out the video of the full post-fight interview above.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 245.

Joey Logano was having a solid day even before his fuel gamble, but it was never supposed to end in victory. Entering the Round of 8, thanks to Alex Bowman’s shocking disqualification the week prior, Logano looked like a real long shot to make the Championship 4. 

But he’s done it — locking himself in before title favorites Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell. Logano credits it as a total team effort. Crew chief Paul Wolfe, spotter Coleman Pressley, engineers Brandon ‘Shaggy’ Pope and Joseph Bisson, even fueler Nick Hensley — he needed all of them to be able to pull this off.

“I don’t think there’s a team out there that works better together than Team Penske,” declared Logano in his winner’s press conference. “That is just in our DNA all the way through. That started years and years and years ago. I can’t even take credit for being part of that.”

What makes it even more impressive is that Logano only has six top-fives this year, and three of those are race wins.

The path to victory

Logano went into Sunday’s race in tenth and steadily moved forward, ending Stage 1 in eighth place, and Stage 2 in fifth. When the pivotal caution flew for a spin by Ty Gibbs with 74 laps remaining, Logano was running eighth for what would be the final restart.

As most of the leaders chose to pit under green for a splash of fuel with about 40 laps left to run, Logano’s team went in a different direction. He was not alone in this decision to try and stretch the field with playoff rival Denny Hamlin right behind him and Daniel Suarez four seconds up the road. Crucially, he was also a full lap ahead of Bell, who led those with fresh tires and a full load of fuel.

With 30 laps to go, a charging Bell was over 20 seconds behind Logano and Suarez, but Logano was quickly slashing away at that margin. He waited patiently, chipping away at Suarez’s lead until he was given the green light to go. With a helpful push from his wounded teammate, Ryan Blaney, Logano began to close rapidly, easily passing Suarez with just six laps left in the race.

It was the first lap Logano had led the entire race. But Bell was still forward and Logano was closing fast. With one more lap, Bell would have likely won the race no matter how much fuel Logano had on board, but the No. 22 team timed it perfectly. Logano crossed the line 0.662s ahead of a shocked Bell, locking himself into the final four.

“I was just focused on the information I was being fed,” explained Logano. “I was going as fast as I felt comfortable going with saving fuel. I knew I couldn’t waste time with Suarez. I knew I had to get by him. Took an extra lap longer than I wanted it to be. Was able to get by him in enough time. Felt like we were in good shape.

“I only knew that because of what Coleman [Pressley, spotter] was telling me up there. He is like, ‘I think we are in good shape. He is not going to catch us if we keep doing what we are doing. As long as you don’t get enough traffic friction by passing cars and not doing it efficiently, you’re going to be able to stay ahead there.’

Joey Logano, Team Penske, Pennzoil Ford Mustang

Photo by: John Harrelson / NKP / Motorsport Images

“The pace was starting to equal out as tires were wearing after a long run like that. That information made me pretty confident. I know Paul [Wolfe, crew chief] well enough now that when I hear it in his voice, he felt pretty confident we were going to make it on gas.”

Logano has been here before, turning a 2022 win at Vegas into his second NASCAR Cup title. Just like this, he doesn’t have to put any effort whatsoever into the rest of this round with all eyes now on Phoenix. “The next two weeks don’t really matter,” he declared. “It’s the advantage that we earned. We know what that advantage is worth. It’s a worth a lot. Our focus tomorrow morning will be on Phoenix, job to finish.”

Should Logano prevail, he will be the first driver to ever win three titles under this format and just the tenth driver in history to ever win three or more. 

Striker Simone Magill has been named the new captain of Northern Ireland before the Euro 2025 play-off with Croatia.

Magill succeeds midfielder Marissa Callaghan, who stepped back as captain in May.

The 29-year-old has won 85 caps and scored 25 goals.

Only record goalscorer Rachel Furness has netted more times for Northern Ireland than Magill, who made her debut as a 15-year-old in 2010.

Magill was key as Northern Ireland qualified for the Euro 2022 finals, but cruelly picked up a knee injury in their opening match with Norway.

She spent most of the first of her two seasons at Aston Villa recovering and signed for Birmingham City in the summer window.

Midfielder Callaghan, who was not included in the squad by manager Tanya Oxtoby, stepped back from her long-term role as captain in May – stating it was the “best decision” for the squad.

Defender Laura Rafferty had been handed the armband by Oxtoby on a regular basis but the Australian has now settled on Magill as her permanent skipper.

“From our point of view we have gone through a diligent process,” said the manager.

“We have really defined what leadership is and what behaviours leaders in our group should have and, essentially, Simone epitomises everything a leader is in terms of her professionalism and behaviour, and also the way that she looks at how we develop, which is a massive part of what we’re trying to do.”

The first leg of the opening play-off round with Croatia takes place on Friday before the home leg at Windsor Park on Tuesday, 29 October.

Norway or Albania await the winner of the tie in the final play-off round in November with the victor then qualifying for the Euro 2025 finals.

Bruno Silva is still mad at Chris Weidman for what happened in their fight, and hopes to get a chance to meet him inside the cage again.

Weidman was awarded the TKO victory over “Blindado” at UFC Atlantic City this past March, a result that was later overturned to a technical decision when replay showed that Silva went down due to eye pokes, not punches. Silva filed an appeal to overturn it to a no-contest instead, but the commission denied his request.

Silva said he temporarily “lost 30 percent of my vision in one of the eyes” due to the foul, and tried to convince UFC matchmakers to book an immediate rematch. Instead, the Brazilian returns against Ismail Naurdiev at Saturday’s UFC 308 in Abu Dhabi, while Weidman meets Eryk Anders on Nov. 16 at UFC 309.

“We were asking for this fight,” Silva said in an interview with MMA Fighting. “When I go to bed at night, he’s the opponent I hate the most. I’ve fought many people, I have more than 30 MMA fights, but every time I think of him and Cormier, I feel anger.”

Weidman was part of the UFC 300 weigh-in show alongside Daniel Cormier, Laura Sanko and Dan Hellie, who made fun of the recent eye poke situation.

“[Weidman] is fighting a month after me, and my focus is on knocking this guy [Naurdiev], and then then I’m calling him out on the mic,” Silva said. “I could ask for other opponents, but I like to deal with things my way. He’s fighting next month, and I have a score to settle with him. It’s personal. I’ll ask the UFC, and I hope they send him my way. He’s not on a great run, but he has a big name. He’s a former champion, and it brings good media. If we both win, maybe that’s interesting for the UFC. I want that fight back. But if that’s something that’s gonna slow me down, f*ck that dude.”

Days after the controversial bout, Weidman said Silva overreacted to the eye pokes and celebrated getting back to the win column following a two-fight skid. Silva, on the other hand, has now lost three straight in the UFC with previous defeats to Brendan Allen and Shara Magomedov.

“My biggest mistake was that I respected Chris Weidman too much, and I’ll live with that for the rest of my life,” Silva said. “He deserved no respect. Even [coach Andre] Dida said I respected him way too much. The fight was over, we spoke in the locker room because I didn’t want any bad vibe. And then he grabs the mic and starts talking crap, him and Cormier. My God. Cormier, talk about an insufferable person.”

Months later, Combat Sports Anti-Doping announced that Silva received a six-month suspension but what was a “likely unintentional” anti-doping violation for a metabolite of drostanolone. Silva had already been suspended before, a two-year ban imposed by the United States Anti-Doping Agency in 2020.

“And when the doping [news] came, brother, what am I going to say?” Silva continued. “Let’s suppose you don’t know me and hear I tested positive. How am I going to defend myself? The full story is out there, but people only read the headline. The crap he said, that pisses me off, but how am I going to say anything? He already doesn’t respect anybody, and now I’m [testing] positive. I stayed quiet.

“Life will get back at him, like it did when he made fun of Anderson Silva and then broke his leg. He reaps what he sows. Unfortunately, I didn’t beat him. If I knock him out, then there’s no more argument. But he defeated me that way and I can’t say anything. It bothers me a lot, man. Sometimes I can’t believe people can be so disrespectful, but there’s always bad people out there.”

“Blindado” admitted that a longer suspension would have led to his retirement from the sport, and thanked the UFC and the in-house doping agency for “being on my side and believing me.” Silva remained active during the suspension, competing in three grappling matches and an amateur boxing bout in his gym in Curitiba, Brazil, and now turns his focus back to the UFC.

“I feel light going into this fight,” Silva said. “I’ve left wins and losses in the past and nothing will interfere. I’m surrounded by good people, and I’m ready to be back. If someone asks me how motivated I am, I say motivation is bullsh*t. What I feel right now is freedom to go there and fight. I have nothing to prove to anyone. My only goal is to go there and submit him, beat the crap out of him, knock him out, or win by points. I’m not coming back from Abu Dhabi without the win, and my team happy on the plane.”

LAS VEGAS – Su Mudaerji has a theory that Charles Johnson will lead him to think he wants to stand and trade Saturday, but quickly will change his mind.

Mudaerji (16-6 MMA, 3-3 UFC), at media day for UFC Fight Night 245, said he fully expects a takedown from Johnson (16-6 MMA, 5-4 UFC) when they have a featured flyweight throwdown Saturday. But that flies in the face of what Johnson said he wants.

And what he wants, he said, is a $50,000 performance bonus after he puts Mudaerji away.

“I’m thankful for another opportunity,” Johnson said at Wednesday’s media day at the UFC Apex. “I’m sad it wasn’t a ranked opponent, but understanding that it’s my third fight on this contract, it’s going to allow me to get to my next contract, and I think it’s a great moment for me to show the UFC exactly what I can be in this promotion.”

When he heard what Mudaerji thinks, he intimated a plan to make sure he leaves Vegas disappointed – no matter how it unfolds.

“I think that’s just insecurity,” Johnson said. “I think that I dominate everywhere in the fight. I think that he hopes that I stand with him. That’s his only means to win this fight. He’s not going to beat me in wrestling or jiu-jitsu, so he hopes to stroke my ego (saying he thinks I won’t stand and trade).

“But I’m going to pressure him from the go. It doesn’t matter what he wants to happen. I’m going to dominate him in every facet of this game. He may have a couple moments. But overall, when people see this fight and it’s over with, they would say Charles should be fighting for a title very soon.”

Check out Johnson’s full media day interview in the video above.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 245.