The elite of world football will gather in Paris on Monday for the Ballon d’Or ceremony, with Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior the leading candidate for the men’s award and Barcelona’s Aitana Bonmati the hot favourite to win her second-successive crown.
The men’s shortlist for the 2023/24 edition of the prestigious individual award is the first since 2003 to feature neither Lionel Messi nor Cristiano Ronaldo who hoovered up the prize 13 times between them.