The Ballon d'Or is an annual football award presented by French magazine France Football since 1956 to honour the player deemed to have performed the best over the previous season.
The Sporting News is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a print magazine. It became the dominant American publication covering baseball, acquiring the nickname "The Bible of Baseball".
The J1 League, a.k.a. the J.League or the Meiji Yasuda J1 League for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Japan Professional Football League system. Founded in 1992, it is one of the most successful leagues in Asian professional club football history. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the J2 League. It was known as the J.League from 1993 to 1998 before becoming a two-division league, and as J.League Division 1 from 1999 to 2014. Vissel Kobe successfully defended their second consecutive title in the 2024 season, after previously winning it in the 2023 season.
Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward for and captains both the Saudi Pro League club Al Nassr and the Portugal national team. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, Ronaldo has won numerous individual accolades throughout his career, such as five Ballon d'Or awards, a record three UEFA Men's Player of the Year Awards, four European Golden Shoes, and was named five times the world's best player by FIFA, the most by a European player. He has won 33 trophies in his career, including seven league titles, five UEFA Champions Leagues, the UEFA European Championship and the UEFA Nations League. Ronaldo holds the records for most appearances (183), goals (140) and assists (42) in the Champions League, most appearances (30), assists (8), goals in the European Championship (14), international appearances (217) and international goals (135). He is one of the few players to have made over 1,200 professional career appearances, the most by an outfield player, and has scored over 900 official senior career goals for club and country, making him the top goalscorer of all time.
Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's for sponsorship purposes, is the top-level association football league in France located at the top of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de Football Professionnel, Ligue 1 is contested by 18 clubs and operates on a system of promotion and relegation from and to Ligue 2.
Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior, also known as Neymar Júnior or simply Neymar, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a left winger, attacking midfielder or forward for Campeonato Brasileiro Série A team Santos and the Brazil national team. Widely regarded as one of the best players of all time, he is known for his skills, dribbling, playmaking, and finishing. Neymar is one of the few players to have scored at least 100 goals for three different clubs. He is the highest-scoring Brazilian in the UEFA Champions League and is also Brazil's all-time top goalscorer.
FourFourTwo is a football magazine published by Future. Issued monthly, it published its 300th edition in May 2019. It takes its name from the football formation of the same name, 4-4-2. Future acquired the magazine from Haymarket Media Group in 2018. Haymarket previously acquired Future's earlier football magazine Total Football in 2001 in exchange of subscriber list and the rights to the masthead of its defunct internet magazine The Net, Haymarket later absorbed Total Football into FourFourTwo.
Alèxia Putellas i Segura, Spanish: Alexia Putellas Segura; born 4 February 1994), often known mononymously as Alexia, is a Spanish professional footballer from Catalonia who plays as a midfielder or forward for Liga F club Barcelona, which she captains, and the Spain women's national team. She previously played for Espanyol and Levante, and has represented Catalonia. Having won all major club and individual awards available to a European player by 2022, she is widely regarded as one of the greatest female footballers of all time.
The UEFA Women's Player of the Year Award was an association football award given to the female footballer that is considered the best player playing for a football club in Europe during the previous season. The award was announced in 2013, two years after the creation of the UEFA Best Player in Europe Award, the equivalent award for male footballers.
Kylian Mbappé Lottin is a French professional footballer who plays as a forward for La Liga club Real Madrid and captains the France national team. Regarded as one of the best players in the world and one of the greatest players of 21st century, he is known for his dribbling, finishing, and speed.
DAZN is a British over-the-top sports streaming and entertainment platform. Founded in 2007 as Perform Group via the merger of Premium TV Limited and Inform Group, it is owned by Access Industries, the investment group founded by Sir Len Blavatnik, and is headquartered in London, England. Shay Segev is DAZN's CEO as of January 2021. The non-executive directors are Lincoln Benet, John Gleasure and Guillaume D’Hauteville.
Kacper Szymon Kozłowski is a Polish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Turkish Süper Lig club Gaziantep.
Luqman Hakim bin Shamsudin is a Malaysian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Belgian Pro League club Kortrijk, and the Malaysia national team. He was included in The Guardian's "Next Generation 2019".
Melchie Daëlle Dumornay, also known as Corventina, is a Haitian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Première Ligue club Lyon and the Haiti national team.
The Best FIFA Football Awards2021 were held on 17 January 2022. The ceremony was held virtually due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The 2022 Ballon d'Or was the 66th annual presentation of the Ballon d'Or, presented by France Football, recognising the best footballers in the world during the 2021–22 season. For the first time in the history of the award, it was given based on the results of the European season, instead of the calendar year. The nominees for the ceremony were announced on 12 August 2022, and the ceremony was held on 17 October. Karim Benzema won the Ballon d'Or, for successfully leading Real Madrid to win both UEFA Champions League and La Liga. Alexia Putellas claimed the Ballon d'Or Féminin, following her successful domestic campaign with Barcelona. In the other award categories, Gavi was given the Kopa Trophy, Thibaut Courtois won the Yashin Trophy, Robert Lewandowski was presented the newly named Gerd Müller Trophy, Sadio Mané was awarded the inaugural Sócrates Award, and Manchester City claimed the Club of the Year award.
The 2022–23 season was the 35th season in the history of FC Barcelona Femení. In addition to the domestic league, Barcelona also played in the season's editions of the Copa de la Reina, Supercopa de España Femenina and UEFA Women's Champions League. They ended the season with a continental treble, scoring 173 goals in all competitions and conceding 21 goals; they won 91% of all their matches in all competitions.
TheBest FIFA Football Awards 2022 were held on 27 February 2023 in Paris, France.
