An England men’s pair now: Arsenal’s Declan Rice is first up, placing 26th, and after his first full senior season it’s an incredible 25th for Cole Palmer.

Not a bad year for the Chelsea superstar, who went on to score in the Euro 2024 final of course.

On we go then with the first few men’s nominees and their placings:

Joint 29th are Artem Dovbyk of Girona last season and Mats Hummels of Dortmund last season – both now of Roma.

Alejandro Grimaldo places 28th after a stellar year with Bayer Leverkusen, then PSG’s Vitinha in 27th.

Well, on the back of that Wiegman comment about the awards taking place during a women’s international break, we can expect the Ballon d’Or organisers to get some further criticism here already and rightly so.

Those first ten female nominees have been grouped together, five in a single post – the first collection of men’s names coming through are individualised and with accompanying videos and so on.

Not quite the equity they seek to portray is it?

Lucy Bronze, Lauren James and Lauren Hemp have made the 30-player shortlist for the Ballon d’Or Feminin, while Wiegman herself has been nominated for women’s coach of the year. Although James is injured, the Lionesses will be preparing for Tuesday night’s friendly against South Africa in Coventry while the Ballon d’Or ceremony takes place and neither Bronze or Hemp will be able to join the star-studded evening.

It will be similar for several other leading nations across Europe and Aitana Bonmati, the favourite to retain the Ballon d’Or Feminin, will be required to play for Spain in Italy on Tuesday evening.

Chelsea’s Sjoeke Nusken is 25th, Bayern Munich captain Glodis Perla Viggosdottir ranks 22nd and another Chelsea player is just outside the top 20 in Mayra Ramirez.

The full awards ceremony might be tonight, but the earliest placings are now starting to come through with a collection of men and women’s rankings being released.

Man City’s Yui Hasegawa places 26th; her club teammate and England’s own Lauren Hemp comes in 28th.

The 2024 Ballon d’Or ceremony takes place today, with the best in men’s and women’s football descending on the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris for a night of awards and celebration.

Considered the most prestigious awards showcase in the industry, this is a night for legends to be born, joining the likes of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo on the pantheon of greatness.

Two new awards will be introduced this year, with Men’s Coach of the Year and Women’s Coach of the Year joining a full slate that is headlined by the Ballon d’Or and Ballon d’Or Feminin being handed out.

Here’s everything you need to know:

• Jude Bellingham (England, Real Madrid)
• Hakan Çalhanoğlu (Türkiye, Inter)
• Dani Carvajal (Spain, Real Madrid)
• Rúben Dias (Portugal, Manchester City)
• Artem Dovbyk (Ukraine, Dnipro / Girona / Roma)
• Phil Foden (England, Manchester City)
• Alejandro Grimaldo (Spain, Bayer Leverkusen)
• Erling Haaland (Norway, Manchester City)
• Mats Hummels (Germany, Borussia Dortmund)
• Harry Kane (England, Bayern Munich)
• Toni Kroos (Germany, Real Madrid)
• Ademola Lookman (Nigeria, Atalanta)
• Emiliano Martínez (Argentina, Aston Villa)
• Lautaro Martínez (Argentina, Inter )
• Kylian Mbappé (France, Paris Saint-Germain / Real Madrid)
• Martin Ødegaard (Norway, Arsenal)
• Dani Olmo (Spain, Leipzig / Barcelona)
• Cole Palmer (England, Manchester City / Chelsea)
• Declan Rice (England, Arsenal)
• Rodri (Spain, Manchester City)
• Antonio Rüdiger (Germany, Real Madrid)
• Bukayo Saka (England, Arsenal)
• William Saliba (France, Arsenal)
• Federico Valverde (Uruguay, Real Madrid)
• Vinícius Júnior (Brazil, Real Madrid)
• Vitinha (Portugal, Paris Saint-Germain)
• Nico Williams (Spain, Athletic Club)
• Florian Wirtz (Germany, Bayer Leverkusen)
• Granit Xhaka (Switzerland, Bayer Leverkusen)
• Lamine Yamal (Spain, Barcelona)

• Lucy Bronze (England, Barcelona / Chelsea)
• Mariona Caldentey (Spain, Barcelona / Arsenal)
• Barbra Banda (Zambia, Shanghai RCB / Orlando Pride)
• Tabitha Chawinga (Malawi, Paris Saint-Germain / Olympique Lyonnais)
• Grace Geyoro (France, Paris Saint-Germain)
• Manuela Giugliano (Italy, AS Roma)
• Caroline Graham Hansen (Norway, Barcelona)
• Patricia Guijarro (Spain, Barcelona)
• Giulia Gwinn (Germany, Bayern München)
• Yui Hasegawa (Japan, Manchester City)
• Ada Hegerberg (Norway, Olympique Lyonnais)
• Lauren Hemp (England, Manchester City)
• Lindsey Horan (USA, Olympique Lyonnais)
• Lauren James (England, Chelsea)
• Marie-Antoinette Katoto (France, Paris Saint-Germain)
• Alyssa Naeher (USA, Chicago Red Stars)
• Sjoeke Nüsken (Germany, Chelsea)
• Ewa Pajor (Poland, VfL Wolfsburg / Barcelona)
• Salma Paralluelo (Spain, Barcelona)
• Gabi Portilho (Brazil, Corinthians)
• Alexia Putellas (Spain, Barcelona)
• Mayra Ramírez (Colombia, Levante / Chelsea)
• Trinity Rodman (USA, Washington Spirit)
• Lea Schüller (Germany, Bayern München)
• Khadija Shaw (Jamaica, Manchester City)
• Sophia Smith (USA, Portland Thorns)
• Mallory Swanson (USA, Chicago Red Stars)
• Tarciane (Brazil, Corinthians / Houston Dash)
• Glódís Viggósdóttir (Iceland, Bayern München)

This is known as the Ballon d’Or awards night but really that is just one of several being handed out.

Here’s the full rundown of what to expect:

• The Ballon d’Or
• The Ballon d’Or Feminin
• The Kopa Trophy (best player under 21 years of age)
• The Yashin Trophy (best goalkeeper)
• The Men’s Club of the Year Trophy
• The Women’s Club of the Year Trophy
• The Men’s Coach of the Year Trophy
• The Women’s Coach of the Year Trophy
• The Gerd Müller Trophy (top scorer of the previous season)