8:43 p.m. – The waiting continues.
8:35 p.m. – Or not. At least the streaming service DAZN shows videos of the stars arriving on the red carpet. The players from FC Barcelona can currently be seen. Among them is the top favorite for the Ballon d’Or féminin, Aitana Bonmatí, but also the European champions Lamine Yamal and Dani Olmo.
8:26 p.m. – Now it should start soon. The first placings, i.e. those of Hummels and Co., will at least be recorded again.
8:22 p.m. – By the way, a film star was also on the red carpet: Oscar winner Natalie Portman, known from blockbusters like “Léon – The Professional”, “Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace” and “Black Swan”. Portman is co-owner of the US women’s soccer franchise Angel City FC, for which Almuth Schult has also played.
8.20 p.m. – By the way, one thing is also clear: Toni Kroos is also among the top ten footballers. A mature performance for the ex-national player, who ended his career after the European Championships.
8:15 p.m. – Harry Kane has now arrived. One thing is certain: the Bayern star made it into the top 10. No wonder given his last season in the Bundesliga: Kane scored 36 goals in 32 games in the Bundesliga.
8:00 p.m. – The gala was actually supposed to start now, but that doesn’t seem to be the case yet. At least that’s what the photos suggest, the stars are only arriving little by little.
7.40 p.m. – Unlike the Real Madrid professionals, Mats Hummels won’t miss out on taking part in the Ballon d’Or, even if he doesn’t win. The ex-BVB star has already been spotted on the red carpet. Read more about this here.
7.30 p.m. – Exciting side note: Last year’s winner and record champion Lionel Messi was not nominated this year. Cristiano Ronaldo (five wins) is also not on the list. The last time that neither of the two sports icons was among the 30 nominees was in 2003 (!).
7.15 p.m. – Florian Wirtz will not win the Ballon d’Or. The Leverkusen player is 12th, that is now also clear.
7:00 p.m. – And for the men? It is already clear that Mats Hummels ended up in 29th place and Alejandro Grimaldo in 28th place. Rüdiger is in 22nd place, Xhaka made it to 16th place.
6:55 p.m. – The first rankings have already been officially published. DFB star Giulia Gwinn comes in 19th among women, Schüller and Nüsken in 24th and 25th. That means: There is no German Ballon d’Or winner this year.
6.50 p.m. – The men’s team of the year could also come from Germany. Five teams have been nominated, two German teams are there: Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Dortmund.
6.40 p.m. – Xabi Alonso certainly has a good chance of winning the Coach of the Year award after the double with Bayer Leverkusen. But the competition is fierce with coaching geniuses like Champions League winner Carlo Ancelotti from Real, ex-Bayern coach Pep Guardiola from Manchester City and Spain’s European champion Luis de la Fuente.
6.35 p.m. – Dortmund’s Gregor Kobel, among others, has been nominated for the Jaschin Trophy as the best goalkeeper. Mathys Tel from FC Bayern could win the Kopa trophy as the best young player.
6.25 p.m. – Exciting from a German perspective: Some current and former national players as well as some Bundesliga players are also nominated for the various awards this evening. These include, for example, Florian Wirtz (Bayer 04), Mats Hummels (BVB/AS Roma), Toni Kroos (Real), Harry Kane (Bayern), Granit Xhaka, Alejandro Grimaldo (both Leverkusen) and Antonio Rüdiger (Real) among the men and Giulia Gwinn (Bavaria), Sjoeke Nüsken (Chelsea) and Lea Schüller (Bavaria) for women.
6.15 p.m. – There was a scandal even before the event began. Champions League winner Real Madrid and its numerous nominated players will be completely absent from the event. The reason: Vinícius Júnior, who was considered the top favorite for the cup, will apparently not receive it. The world club said in a statement: “It is clear that Real Madrid is not respected at the Ballon d’Or. And Real Madrid will not go anywhere where it is not respected.” You can read more about the scandal here.
6:00 p.m. – Hello and welcome to this year’s Ballon d’Or award ceremony. The show starts at 8 p.m. in the Theater du Chatelet.