LONDON — The prestigious Ballon d’Or ceremony, which honors the top male and female soccer players, will take place in London this October, shifting from its usual Paris setting.
The ceremony, set for October 26, celebrates the 70th anniversary of the inaugural award given to English legend Stanley Matthews, as announced by co-hosts France Football magazine and UEFA.
London is also the hometown of England’s record goal scorer, Harry Kane, and is home to Arsenal, who recently clinched their first Premier League title in 22 years and are set to compete for their first Champions League title against Paris Saint-Germain this Saturday.
Kane had a remarkable season, scoring 61 goals in 51 matches for German champions Bayern Munich. This record includes 14 goals in the Champions League, where Bayern reached the semifinals before being narrowly defeated by PSG, plus five additional goals for England in World Cup qualifying.
Ousmane Dembélé took home last year’s men’s Ballon d’Or in Paris after PSG secured their first Champions League title.
This season, Dembélé netted 19 goals in 39 matches for PSG, starting only 11 games during their Ligue 1 title-winning campaign. He scored seven goals in the Champions League, including a crucial strike against Bayern, despite missing five of France’s six World Cup qualifying matches due to injury.
Aitana Bonmatí, who has won the women’s Ballon d’Or for the past three years, was sidelined for much of the season due to injury. She returned just in time to contribute to Barcelona‘s quadruple-winning campaign, which included another Champions League title last Saturday against OL Lyon.
The Ballon d’Or winners are determined by an international panel of journalists who vote for their top 10 players from a shortlist of 30, which is compiled by France Football, L’Equipe newspaper, and UEFA.