Sports Talk

How the Ballon d'Or voting roughly works, before the arguing starts

Awards season is coming and every year my timeline turns into a war about who was 'robbed'. So a short explainer, as far as I understand it.

The men's award is voted on by journalists, one from each of a set of countries chosen from the higher-ranked football nations. Each journalist ranks their top players and points are given by position.

Since 2022 it is based on the European season rather than the calendar year, which changes who it favours: a strong spring and a big final matters more than a good November.

The criteria are supposed to be individual performance first, then team success, then something like class and fair play. In practice, trophies and big-game moments tend to weigh heavily, which is where most of the fighting comes from.

Not trying to tell anyone who should win. Just hoping we can argue with slightly better information this year.