Ballon d'Or 2018: Award Ceremony Date, TV Schedule, Live Stream, Finalists

The 2018 Ballon d'Or winner will be crowned in Paris on Monday night as the likes of Luka Modric, Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann hope to break the 10-year duopoly of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

The pair haven't relinquished football's most prestigious individual award since Ronaldo won it in 2008, and they both sit on five apiece. 

However, in a FIFA World Cup year in which neither made it past the round of 16, their stranglehold over the prize looks in danger.

Date: Monday, December 3

Time: 8 p.m. GMT, 3 p.m. ET

TV: beIN Sports (USA)

Live Stream:  L'Equipe, France Football, beIN Sports (USA)

France Football revealed the nominees for the award back in October:

In the men's award, it is rumoured that Modric, Mbappe and Griezmann are ahead of Messi and Ronaldo in the running, with the Croatian tipped to take the prize, per Fox Sports.

Former Spain boss Vicente del Bosque is baffled by the anticipated exclusion of Messi:

The Barcelona talisman has enjoyed another phenomenal year filled with consistently outstanding performances, resulting in 45 goals and 24 assists for club and country in 50 matches. He also added another La Liga title and the Copa del Rey to his ever-expanding trophy haul.

Eurosport's Siavoush Fallahi believes whether he or Modric deserve the award depends on the criteria votes are based on:

Football writers Rafael Honigstein and Guillem Balague debated the criteria on BBC 5 Live Sport:

Modric was named The Best FIFA Men's Player for 2018 after his efforts at the World Cup and in the Champions League, so a Ballon d'Or win could well follow.

As for Mbappe and Griezmann, they each scored four times to help France win the World Cup as well as winning trophies with Paris Saint-Germain and Atletico Madrid, respectively. In total, they've bagged 32 and 36 goals for club and country in 2018, respectively.

Ronaldo, who won the Champions League with Modric at Real Madrid before switching to Juventus in the summer, has scored the same number of goals as Messi, 45.

France Football is also awarding the prize to female players for the first time this year:

It comes as little surprise that in the women's Ballon d'Or, the nominees are dominated by Lyon players, who won the French top flight and the UEFA Women's Champions League this year.

With seven of the 15 nominees coming from Lyon, including stars Lucy Bronze, Ada Hegerberg and Dzsenifer Marozsan, there's a strong chance the French club will have produced the winner.

Orlando Pride and Brazil star Marta, who was named The Best FIFA Women's Player earlier this year, will also be in contention.