Ballon d’Or Awards LIVE: Latest updates as Lionel Messi crowned and Aitana Bonmati wins Feminin award

Mary Earps fifth, Chelsea’s Sam Kerr finished as runner-up. Tenth and 11th for Lionesses too, with Rachel Daly and Millie Bright in those positions respectively.

Onto the men’s award we go. Benzema won last year but was only 16th this time around.

Lionel Messi has been the overwhelming favourite since the moment he lifted the World Cup trophy in Qatar, but is there a surprise in the works?

David Beckham is on stage to award the Ballon d’Or for the men.

Messi, Mbappe, Haaland in the running. And the winner is:

Lionel Messi! AGAIN!

Messi offers his thanks to the teammates he has been with, congratulations to the other nominees and explains how proud he is to have landed an incredible eighth Ballon d’Or.

“The players here change but the level never goes down,” Messi says about his many, many years up on that stage.

“To win the World Cup was a dream, it was really special that people from other nations wanted Argentina to win.”

Messi continues to speak after winning his latest award:

“I never imagined to have the career I’ve had. I’ve had a lot of luck to achieve everything I have, I’ve played for the best team in the world, the best team in history. It makes it easier to win titles and individual prizes. To win the Copa America and then the World Cup after all the difficult moments with the national team, it was incredible to get it done.”

Messi is of course an Inter Miami player now - one of the owners being David Beckham, who just gave him the prize.

“To say he’s a Miami player and is in our city is a special thing. Like he’s said, he’ll celebrate with teammates and with his amazing family and back in Argentina,” Beckham says.

“He’ll do his best to celebrate it his own way and we’ll do our best to celebrate it in a Miami way!”

Messi gets his three sons up on stage to join in the celebrations! Nice touch.

Here’s a great look at the award winners of the night: Messi, Bonmati, Haaland, Bellingham and Vinicius Jr, plus Barcelona’s team award.

Any other year, maybe Erling Haaland’s goals and trophies land him the award. But not once Messi lifted that World Cup in Qatar, it’s pretty fair to say.

Ballon d’Or organisers going hard on this “8”/”infinity” thing. M8ssi? Not quite having it, sorry.

Still, can’t argue with the relentlessness of those votes. Four in a row from 2009-12, then only one in six years...and bounces back with three more in five editions, one of which was cancelled. Not bad at all.

Messi says Haaland and Mbappe will one day win the Ballon d’Or; pretty sure they might well do, although also pretty sure he once said the same thing about Neymar. Time will tell, as always.

Jude Bellingham after receiving his Kopa Trophy:

“I just want to thank everyone who has helped me get to this point – from Birmingham to Dortmund and now Real Madrid and the national team.

“Thanks for the support, it means a lot – and more to come.”