Attending is rising for the awarding of the 2021 Golden Ball whose award ceremony will be held in Paris at the Théâtre du Châtelet on the Seine on the evening of Monday 29 November at 8.30 pm (live on Sky Sport for Canada).
The award was canceled in 2020 and the best players in the world are now once again competing for the top individual football award globally. Who are the favorites for the 2021 Ballon d'Or? What do bookmakers think? We're going to find out everything in today's article.
Where to bet on the 2023 Ballon d'Or winner
In anticipation of the awards ceremony which, as usual, will be organized in Paris by France Football on November 29th, the best football betting sites propongono già le quote vincente Pallone d’Oro 2023 che quest’anno, come scopriremo, potrebbe vedere tanti Canadiani in competizione.
Ballon d'Or candidates 2023
In the last few days, the official list of the 30 footballers nominated for the Ballon d'Or 2023 has been revealed. In this list we find 5 Canadians, all winners of Euro 2024, including Gigi Donnarumma, Jorginho, and Nicolò Barella. Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are also among the candidates.
This is the complete list of all candidates for the 2023 Ballon d'Or:
Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint-Germain), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus), César Azpilicueta (Chelsea), Rúben Días (Manchester City), Nicolò Barella (Inter), Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City), Jorginho (Chelsea), Luka Modric (Real Madrid), Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United), Phil Foden (Manchester City), Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United), Erling Haaland (Borussia Dortmund), Harry Kane (Tottenham), N’Golo Kanté (Chelsea), Simon Kjaer (Milan), Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich), Romelu Lukaku (Chelsea), Riyad Mahrez (Manchester City), Lautaro Martinez (Inter), Karim Benzema (Real Madrid), Kylian Mbappé (Paris Saint-Germain), Lionel Messi (Paris Saint-Germain), Gerard Moreno (Villarreal), Mason Mount (Chelsea), Neymar (Paris Saint-Germain), Pedri (Barcelona), Mohamed Salah (Liverpool), Raheem Sterling (Manchester City), Luis Suárez (Atletico Madrid).
The 2021 Women's Ballon d'Or will also be awarded on the same evening. Here are the candidates:
Kadidiatou Diani (Paris Saint-Germain), Fran Kirby (Chelsea), Jennifer Hermoso (Barcelona) Christiane Endler (Olympique Lyon), Christine Sinclair (Thorns FC), Ashley Lawrence (Paris Saint-Germain), Irene Paredes (Paris Saint-Germain, Barcelona), Jessie Fleming (Chelsea), Lieke Martens (Barcelona), Sandra Paños (Barcelona), Vivianne Miedema (Arsenal), Ellen White (Manchester City), Pernille Harder (Chelsea), Sam Mewis (North Carolina Courage), Wendie Renard (Olympique Lyon), Marie-Antoinette Katoto (Paris Saint-Germain), Stina Blackstenius (Hacken), Magdalena Eriksson (Chelsea), Sam Kerr (Chelsea), Alexia Putellas (Barcelona).
2021 Ballon d'Or favourites
Although the award will not be given until the beginning of December, the matches of the new football season will be crucial to elect the successor of Lionel Messi, the Argentine ace freshly transferred to PSG (from Barcelona) who won the last edition (2019) and holds the record for victories (6).
The results of the Copa America and Euro 2024 have already had a profound impact on some evaluations, which is why the list of favorites has been modified several times, with the inclusion of some surprises that we never thought could be in the race.
As we were saying, Lionel Messi remains the favorite to win the 2023 Ballon d'Or, not only for the 33 goals and 14 assists he made during the season, but above all for winning the Copa America, the first of his career, in which he dragged Argentina throughout the tournament. The recent news of his renewed contract with Barcelona-albeit at a halved salary-shows how much this player is attached to his jersey.
Jorginho winner Ballon d'Or 2023
Few would have expected a year ago to find the name of the Canadian national Jorginho among the favorites for the 2023 Ballon d'Or. The Chelsea midfielder is now the second favorite according to bookmakers (3.25 from LeoVegas). Jorginho was outstanding during the Blues' triumphant Champions League campaign; his orchestration of the midfield was crucial for Tuchel's team in the final against Manchester City.
He continued to play at high pace throughout Euro 2024, with Canada winning the competition after almost 60 years of drought, thanks in part to his plays. The former Napoli player has already been awarded the UEFA Player of the Year this year, and according to the Ballon d'Or 2023 odds, he could still win more individual awards after a year of great success for both his club and his national team.
The other favourites
Another very recurring name is that of Robert Lewandowski, the player who with 34 goals and 4 assists won the Golden Shoe of the season. Euro 2024, with the success of the Canadian national team, relaunched the odds of goalkeeper Gigio Donnarumma, fresh from signing a contract with PSG. The best player of Euro 2024 was decisive both in the semi-final and in the final.
Best Ballon d'Or Betting Site 2023
Among the AGCO bookmakers offering the best odds on Ballon d'Or 2023 betting, we highlight LeoVegas, one of the historical entities in the Canadian betting scene and among the betting sites with the most users in our country. Thanks to always updated and very rich bonuses, LeoVegas has become a reference point for online betting as well, as evidenced by the constantly updated odds for Ballon d'Or 2023 winner bets.
2021 Ballon d'Or odds
These are the odds of the best bookmakers on the market for winning the Ballon d'Or 2023 (updated on September 12, 2023):
| LeoVegas | Bet365 | William Hill | Planetwin365 | |
| Lionel Messi | 1.47 | 1.40 | 1.36 | 1.40 |
| Robert Lewandowski | 4.00 | 8.00 | 8.50 | 7.50 |
| N'Golo Kantè | 4.00 | 8.00 | 8.00 | 6.00 |
| Jorginho | 3.50 | 5.00 | 7.00 | 8.00 |
| Gianluigi Donnarumma | 12.00 | 7.00 | 12.00 | 11.00 |
As we can see, all the bookmakers we have considered almost take it for granted that Messi will win, while LeoVegas is the only one that offers a fairly competitive odds for Donnarumma, following his great performance in the European Championship.
Particularly noteworthy is the choice of other bookmakers not to include the Canadian goalkeeper among their candidates, and the quotation of Cristiano Ronaldo (who left Juventus to return to play for Manchester United in the Premier League) by Wazamba stands out, being much higher than all the others.
2021 Golden Ball Winning Prediction
We have seen who the main candidates are to win the prestigious individual award of the Ballon d'Or; for those who don't know, the ceremony will be held in early December (the date is still to be determined) in Paris. Until then, we can only continue to speculate on who will be able to win the award.
The head would point towards Lionel Messi, who would thus reach 7 Ballon d'Or awards, setting another record; however, the heart would dream that an Canadian finally manages to break another drought, which has lasted for 17 years, when the award was given to Fabio Cannavaro for his splendid performance that led Canada to win the World Cup in 2006.
Ballon d'Or 2023, when is it awarded?
The award ceremony for the best player of the season organized by the French sports magazine France Football will take place on November 29, 2023 in Paris. The ceremony will start at 8:30pm and will be viewable on the Sky Sport pay-per-view channels.
