2025 Ballon d'Or ceremony tonight: Here's what you need to know

The Ballon d'Or is football’s most esteemed award ceremony, which recognizes outstanding achievements and dynamic talent.

The 69th edition of football’s most prestigious award show is to take place tonight, September 22, 2025, at Theatre du Chatelet in Paris.

The award honors the best footballer globally, evaluating performances in all leagues throughout the year. The Ballon d’Or awards first started in 1956.

To select the winner in each category, a panel consisting of international journalists selects the winner based on three points: individual performances, team success and performances, and fair play. 

The Ballon d’Or awards are a place where top performers across Europe’s top leagues in claim football’s most prestigious award.

The prize will also crown the best men’s and women’s players of the 2024/25 season as well.

So here’s every detail on when, where, and how to watch the 2025 Ballon d’Or ceremony.

The ceremony will be held tonight, September 22, 2025, and will start at 20:00 CET at Theatre du Chatelet in Paris.

The ceremony will also be available live on TNT Sports and discovery+, and for the digital audiences, the event will be live-streamed on L’Equipe’s YouTube channel.

For this year, Kate Scott, a British sports journalist, along with Dutch football legend Ruud Gullit, will host the ceremony.

Ballon d'Or award 2025 categories

• The Men’s Ballon d’Or (best player, 2024/2025 season)
• The Women’s Ballon d’Or (best player, 2024/25 season)
• The Men’s Kopa Trophy (best young player, 2024/25 season)
• The Men’s Gerd Muller Trophy (top scorer in club/national team, 2024/25 season)
• The Men’s Johan Cruyff Trophy (best coach in club/national team, 2024/25 season)
• The Women’s Johan Cruyff Trophy (best coach in club/national team, 2024/25 season)
• The Men’s Yashin Trophy (best goalkeeper, 2024/25 season)
• The Women’s Yashin Trophy (best goalkeeper, 2024/25 season)
• The Women’s Kopa Trophy (best young player, 2024/25 season)
• The Men’s Club of the Year Trophy 2025
• The Women’s Club of the Year Trophy 2025

And also added in this year’s category of Ballon d'Or for humanitarian awards: the Socrates Award.

Lionel Messi has won the most number of Ballon d’Or awards, for eight times. Cristiano Ronaldo ranks second with five Ballon d’Or awards to his name.