🔴 MesSIX! Ballon d’Or 2019 as it happened 🏆 | OneFootball

All times CET

20:54 – Thanks for joining us for tonight’s special ceremony. It’s truly a night to remember.

That’s all we have time for but be sure to check out Onefootball for all the reaction to Messi’s record haul.

20:44 – Virgil van Dijk indeed finished second, while Ronaldo takes third.

20:42 – Sadio Mané learns that he’s finished fourth.

20:40 – The only man not named Cristiano Ronaldo (and Messi himself) to award the trophy to the Argentine.

20:36 – Messi! Messi! Messi! Messi! Messi! Messi!

20:33 – Lionel Messi has won his record SIXTH Ballon d’Or. Legend.

20:27 – Some of Alisson’s best moments in 2019. Enjoy.

21:16 – Mo Salah finishes fifth, which leaves just Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Virgil van Dijk, and Sadio Mané in the top-four.

Who will win football’s greatest individual honour?

21:15 – 2018 Kopa Trophy winner Kylian Mbappé finishes sixth after a fantastic season for club and country.

21:11 – The Women’s World Cup Best Player beat out England’s Lucy Bronze and team-mate Alex Morgan to the award.

Rapinoe, along with Morgan and England’s Ellen White, led the Women’s World Cup with six goals.

At the domestic level, the World Cup-winner helped lead Reign FC to the NWSL semi-finals.

21:10 – Megan Rapinoe has won the Women’s Ballon d’Or!

21:09 – Immediately after receiving his Yashin Award, Alisson learns that he’s finished seventh.

21:06 – The Liverpool and Brazil goalkeeper accepts his well-deserved prize after winning both the Champions League and the Copa America titles.

21:02 – Robert Lewandowski has announced that Liverpool’s Alisson Becker inaugural Yashin Trophy for the world’s best goalkeeper, just beating Marc-André ter Stegen and compatriot Ederson to the honour!

20:50 – In eighth is Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski, who was not even a top-30 nominee last year.

Another case of Bundesliga stars being overlooked? You tweet us your opinion @Onefootball.

20:49 – In ninth in Mahrez’s City team-mate Bernardo Silva, who won the inaugural Nations League final in addition to a domestic treble for City.

What. A. Year.

20:48 – Riyad Mahrez claims 10th place in this year’s Ballon d’Or rankings! The Manchester City man scored a dramatic 95th-minute winner in the AFCON semi-finals against Nigeria en route to his country’s second title.

20:47 – The Juventus man tipped Jadon Sancho and João Félix to the award.

20:46 – Matthijs de Ligt has won the 2019 Kopa Trophy!

20:40 – Last year’s Ballon d’Or winners Luka Modrić and Ada Hegerberg, along with 2018 Kopa Trophy winner Kylian Mbappé grace the stage.

20:39 – Never change, Didier.

20:30 – The ceremony has started! Chelsea legend Didier Drogba and French journalist Sandy Heribert are your hosts this evening.

20:20 – We’re only minutes from showtime!

20:05 – The trophy has arrived!

19:59 – Some of the Kopa Trophy nominees have begun to arrive, including Real Madrid’s Vinícius Júnior. Here are the nominees in full:

19:44 – Liverpool players have arrived. The Champions League winners have four players still in the running for the award and had seven top-30 nominees. Incredible.

19:40 – While everyone continues to arrive in France, here are the ten Ballon d’Or finalists in alphabetical order:

19:37 – The one, the only, Lionel Messi has arrived.

19:13 – Ajax goalkeeper Andrey Onana has arrived in Paris as well! He is one of 10 nominated for the inaugural Yashin Trophy, awarded to this year’s best goalkeeper.

19:04 – Robert Lewandowski has arrived and look at that class suit! Is there anything the Bayern sensation can’t do?

18:54 – Players are arriving on the red carpet in Paris! We’re getting to the good stuff!

18:47 – In 11th place is Barcelona and Netherlands midfielder Frenkie de Jong, who captivated us with his stellar play with Ajax en route to an incredible Champions League semi-final run.

€75m already feels like a bargain for the 22-year-old, who is tipped to be the heart of the Netherlands midfield for the next decade.

Now… on to the top 10!

18:42 – Perhaps a surprise to be this ‘low’ on the list of nominees is Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling.

Sterling perhaps enjoyed more of a meteoric rise than any individual player in world football this year, winning the treble at City to go along with his 39 goals for club and country.

Sterling has become England’s leader from the front, dazzling with eight goals and nine assists in just nine games in 2019.

Should he have been ranked higher?

18:39 – Also dropping five spots from 2018 is fellow Belgian Eden Hazard.

After winning the Europa League, Chelsea’s Player of the Year hasn’t quite found his form yet at Real Madrid, though it seems to be a matter of when, not if.

18:34 – Dropping down from a ninth-place finish in 2018 in Manchester City’s Belgian star Kevin De Bruyne.

The 28-year-old spent most of the first half of 2019 recovering from ligament injuries but has no doubt returned to his very best.

18:29 – In 15th is former Ajax and current Juventus centre-back Matthijs de Ligt, who is also up for the Kopa Trophy.

More importantly, those ‘leaked Ballon d’Or results’ that were circulating around the internet? With this result, we now know those were false.

Buckle up!

18:25 – Next up is Manchester City’s free-scoring striker Sergio Agüero, who finishes in 16th place for the second year in a row.

Just 32 goals in 41 games in the 2019 calendar year for the Argentine, who was a huge part in City winning a historic domestic treble.

18:15 – Five-time Ballon d’Or winnier Lionel Messi has arrived in Paris and everyone wants a picture with the living legend.

What else is new?

18:03 – In 17th place is Liverpool’s Roberto Firmino!

A Champions League title and a Copa America crown… not a bad year for the Brazilian! Will a Premier League trophy be next?

17:59 – We have our second Barcelona player of the day, but certainly not the last! 😉

Coming in 18th is Antoine Griezmann, who completed a €120m move from Atlético Madrid over the summer.

Griezmann was also awarded 18th place two years ago, sandwiched between a pair of third-place finishes in 2016 and 2018.

17:55 – In 19th is Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold.

Who will ever forget his quick corner kick that landed at the feet of Divock Origi? The stuff of legends.

17:43 – And on the other side of north London …

It is a tie for 20th position again as Arsenal’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang shares the spot with Dušan Tadić of Ajax.

17:40 – The Tottenham names just keep on coming!

In after his club captain at number 22 is Heung-min Son of Tottenham.

17:36 – No. 23 is an interesting one.

Hugo Lloris is in alone, meaning he has finished ahead of Ter Stegen, which could get people talking …

17:31 – Next up, we have yet more shared positions in the number 24 position.

This time, Napoli centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly shares the honour with Marc-André ter Stegen.

The voters are finding it very hard to separate players this year!

17: 12 – And it as another tie for the next two positions, with 26 going to both Karim Benzema and Georginio Wijnaldum.

The names are now coming thick and fast!

17:08 – The first names for the Ballon d’Or are in and we have a three-way tie for 28th place!

Taking up those positions are João Félix, Marquinhos and Donny van de Beek.

17:03 – We’re expecting 30th place and perhaps a couple of others to be named at 17:30 but we won’t know the winner until around 22:30 – it’s going to be a long one.

16:55 – Before things in Paris get underway, here’s a reminder of the nominees …

16:45 – Hello and welcome to this evening’s live coverage of the Ballon d’Or ceremony!

Buckle up, we’re in for a long ride.