The Ballon d'Or is an annual football award presented by French news magazine France Football since 1956 and co-organized alongside UEFA since 2024. Between 2010 and 2015, in an agreement with FIFA, the award was temporarily merged with the FIFA World Player of the Year and known as the FIFA Ballon d'Or. That partnership ended in 2016, and the award reverted to the Ballon d'Or, while FIFA also reverted to its own separate annual award The Best FIFA Men's Player. The recipients of the joint FIFA Ballon d'Or are considered as winners by both award organisations.
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".
Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward for and captains both 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 five Ballon d'Or awards, a record three UEFA Men's Player of the Year Awards, and four European Golden Shoes, 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, goals in the European Championship (14), international goals (128) and international appearances (205). 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 850 official senior career goals for club and country, making him the top goalscorer of all time.
Lionel Andrés "Leo" Messi is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for and captains both Major League Soccer club Inter Miami and the Argentina national team. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, Messi has won a record eight Ballon d'Or awards, a record six European Golden Shoes, and was named the world's best player for a record eight times by FIFA. Until leaving the club in 2021, he had spent his entire professional career with Barcelona, where he won a club-record 34 trophies, including ten La Liga titles, seven Copa del Rey titles, and the UEFA Champions League four times. With his country, he won the 2021 Copa América and the 2022 FIFA World Cup. A prolific goalscorer and creative playmaker, Messi holds the records for most goals in La Liga (474), most hat-tricks in La Liga (36) and the UEFA Champions League (eight), and most assists in La Liga (192) and the Copa América (17). He also has the most international goals by a South American male (106). Messi has scored over 800 senior career goals for club and country, and has the most goals by a player for a single club (672).
The International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) is an organisation that chronicles the history and records of association football. It was founded in 1984 by Alfredo Pöge in Leipzig. The IFFHS was based in Abu Dhabi for some time but, in 2010, relocated to Bonn, Germany, and then in 2014 to Zürich.
In recognition of the best players in the UEFA Champions League each year, UEFA gives out several awards to the most outstanding performers of the European club football season. The awards are presented in August each year at a special gala in Monaco; previously, the ceremony would coincide with the UEFA Super Cup, but since the Super Cup was moved to early August in 2014, the UEFA awards ceremony has been combined with the UEFA Champions League group stage draw. Internazionale and Real Madrid are the only teams whose players won all of the available awards in the same season.
Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior, also known as Neymar Júnior, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Saudi Pro League club Al Hilal and the Brazil national team. Regarded as one of the best players of his generation, he is renowned for his flamboyant style of play, passing abilities, and two-footedness. Neymar has scored at least 100 goals for three different clubs, being one of a few players to do so, and is the highest-scoring Brazilian player in Champions League history.
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.
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 and the Spain women's national team, both of which she captains. 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 best female footballers of her generation, and one of the greatest of all time. In 2022, women's football reporter Asif Burhan wrote that Putellas' "dedication to the sport has revolutionized the women's game."
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 Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain and captains the France national team. Regarded as one of the best players in the world, he is known for his dribbling, speed, and finishing.
DAZN is a British over-the-top sports streaming and entertainment platform.
Melchie Daëlle Dumornay, also known as Corventina, is a Haitian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Division 1 Féminine 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.
