Five Gunners are in contention for prizes at this year’s Ballon d’Or ceremony which will be held in Paris on Monday night.
Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard’s brilliant 2022/23 seasons saw them nominated for the prestigious men’s award, while Katie McCabe and Amanda Ilestedt are on the shortlist for the women’s equivalent.
Meanwhile, Aaron Ramsdale is one of the contenders for the Yashin Trophy which is handed out to the best goalkeeper in the world over the previous year.
Ahead of the ceremony, here is all you need to know about the event:
What are the Ballon d’Or awards?
The Ballon d’Or is widely recognised as the game’s most prestigious individual award, and sees journalists from around the world cast their votes to crown the world’s best player each season.
It will take place this year at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris.
How does it work?
The selection period covers the 2022/23 season with the victors decided by 100 journalists from FIFA’s top-ranked member nations.
Each journalist makes their top five picks from the 30-player shortlists, with each ranking earning a number of votes. The higher the ranking, the more votes a player gets.
The players with the most votes at the end of the tally win the awards.
Who could win the men’s award?
The men’s award has been handed out since 1956, when Stanley Matthews was the inaugural recipient, while Karim Benzema is the current holder. For the 2023 edition, Martin and Bukayo have been included on a 30-man shortlist alongside some of the biggest stars in the sport.
Martin’s stellar campaign last season sees him recognised, after our skipper scored 15 Premier League goals and contributed seven assists to help us mount a title challenge right up until the closing weeks.
Bukayo enjoyed an equally impressive campaign, scoring 15 goals and providing 11 assists. He was crowned the 2022/23 PFA Young Player of the Year for 2022/23, and his exploits at the 2022 World Cup, where he netted three times during England’s run to the quarter-finals, saw him land the England Player of the Year accolade for the second-straight season.
They will be up against the likes of Lionel Messi who is aiming to win his eight Ballon d’Or after lifting the World Cup last season, while Manchester City goal machine Erling Haaland is also amongst the favourites after helping them to the treble.
Full shortlist: Kim min-jae (Napoli and Bayern Munich), Luka Modric (Real Madrid), Kylian Mbappe (PSG), Victor Osimhen (Napoli), Harry Kane (Tottenham and Bayern Munich), Lionel Messi (PSG and Inter Miami), Rodri (Man City), Lautaro Martinez (Inter Milan), Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid), Robert Lewandowski (Barcelona), Julian Alvarez (Man City), Yassine Bounou (Sevilla and Al Hilal), Vinicius Jr (Real Madrid), Ilkay Gundogan (Man City and Barcelona), Martin Odegaard (Arsenal), Erling Haaland (Man City), Nicolo Barella (Inter Milan), Ruben Dias (Man City), Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa), Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (Napoli), Bernardo Silva (Manchester City), Randal Kolo Muani (Eintracht Frankfurt and PSG), Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid), Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Mohamed Salah (Liverpool), Jamal Musiala (Bayern Munich), Karim Benzema (Real Madrid and Al-Ittihad), Andre Onana (Inter Milan and Man United), Josko Gvardiol (RB Leipzig and Man City)
Women’s award
Katie and Amanda have been nominated for the Women’s Ballon d’Or, which has been awarded since 2018. The duo will hope to taste similar success to Beth Mead last season, who finished runner-up in the standings.
Katie’s performances during 2022/23 saw her crowned our Player of the Season, after she played 21 times in our league campaign, and made a further 12 more appearances in our run to the semi-finals of the Champions League, with her displays seeing her selected in the UEFA Team of the Season. She also lifted the Continental Tyres League Cup during a successful season at club level, and captained the Republic of Ireland at the 2023 World Cup.
Summer recruit Amanda was one of the stars of that competition, as she scored four times to help her side to an eventual third-place finish. She was awarded the Bronze Ball at the conclusion as she was deemed to be the third-best player in the competition. The centre-back spent last season at PSG whom she helped to a second-place finish in the league and finish runners-up in the French Cup.
Some of the other players who have been tipped to finish top of the voting are Aitana Bonmati who won the Champions League with Barcelona and the World Cup with Spain, where she was named the Player of the Tournament, as well as England stars Mary Earps, Millie Bright, Rachel Daly and Georgia Stanway who guided the Lionesses to the World Cup final.
Full shortlist: Khadija Shaw (Man City), Mapi Leon (Barcelona), Mary Earps (Man United), Asisat Oshoala (Barcelona), Wendie Renard (Lyon), Katie McCabe (Arsenal), Jill Roord (Wolfsburg and Man City), Yui Hasegawa (Man City), Alexandra Popp (Wolfsburg), Aitana Bonmati (Barcelona), Debinha (Kansas City), Sam Kerr (Chelsea), Guro Reiten (Chelsea), Ewa Pajor (Wolfsburg), Patricia Guijarro (Barcelona), Daphne Van Domselaar (Twente and Aston Villa), Lena Oberdorf (Wolfsburg), Hinata Miyazawa (MyNavi Sendai and Man United), Millie Bright (Chelsea), Salma Paralluelo (Barcelona), Sophia Smith (Portland Thorns), Hayley Raso (Man City and Real Madrid), Amanda Ilestedt (PSG and Arsenal), Georgia Stanway (Bayern Munich), Olga Ramona (Real Madrid), Fridolina Rolfo (Barcelona), Rachel Daly (Aston Villa), Alba Redondo (Levante), Linda Caicedo (Real Madrid), Kadidiatou Diani (Lyon).
Yashin Trophy
Aaron Ramsdale has also received recognition by being nominated for the Yashin Trophy, which has been awarded to the best goalkeeper since its creation in 2019.
Our shot-stopper kept 15 clean sheets across all competitions in 41 appearances, and was a part of the England squad that competed in Qatar during the World Cup. Only Golden Glove winner David de Gea kept more clean sheets in the Premier League last season.
Those performances saw Aaron earn a place in the PFA Team of the Season, and receives his first nomination for the Yashin Trophy, named after the famed Soviet Union goalkeeper Lev Yashin.
Last year’s winner was Thibaut Courtois, while three other Premier League shot-stopper are also in contention - Emi Martinez, Andre Onana and Ederson.
Full shortlist: Brice Samba (Lens), Dominik Livakovic (Dinamo Zagreb and Fenerbahce), Aaron Ramsdale (Arsenal), Andre Onana (Inter Milan and Manchester United), Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa), Ederson (Manchester City), Marc-Andre Ter Stegen (Barcelona), Mike Maignan (AC Milan), Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid), Yassine Bounou (Sevilla and Al-Hilal)
How to watch
The ceremony is due to start around 8pm UK time, and will be broadcast live on BBC iPlayer in the UK or can be seen worldwide on L’Equipe’s YouTube channel.
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