When did Didier Drogba retire? Former Chelsea striker's career before Ballon d'Or host job

Ben Miller

When did Didier Drogba retire? Former Chelsea striker's career before Ballon d'Or host job image

Didier Drogba will return to his familiar Ballon d'Or presenting role for the 2023 ceremony on Monday, with a player he once competed against expected to be named the best player in the world.

Lionel Messi looks braced to win the honour for the eighth time at the 67th edition of the awards in Paris. “We are going to talk about the last two World Cups," Drogba said, announcing that he would be on co-hosting duties while referencing Messi's triumph at the 2022 tournament.

"We’re going to talk about the treble of Manchester City. And amazing individual performances from men's and women's football as well. You ready?"

But when did Drogba hang up his boots? The Sporting News explains when he stopped playing and takes a look at the Ivorian striker's playing record.

WATCH BALLON D'OR 2023 AWARDS: STREAM LIVE FOR FREE ON PARAMOUNT+

When did Drogba retire?

Drogba continued playing until he was 40, retiring in 2018 – a year before he first became involved in the Ballon d'Or ceremony as a non-player.

He was at United Soccer League club Phoenix Rising at the time, having become a player-owner at the American club.

An Africa Cup of Nations finalist with Ivory Coast in 2006 and 2012, Drogba retired from international football in 2014 to focus on his club career.

Who did Drogba play for?

Born in the Ivorian capital of Abidjan, Drogba moved to France as a child to live with his uncle, who was a professional footballer.

The future Premier League Hall of Fame inductee played for six French sides during his youth career, spending his first four years as a professional with Le Mans from 1998.

MORE: Follow the 2023 Ballon d'Or live!

He was prolific during single season stays with Guingamp and Marseille before moving to Chelsea – newly-monied under former owner Roman Abramovich, and with a young Jose Mourinho as manager – for £24 million in July 2004.

The eight years that followed featured almost a goal every other game for Drogba as he helped the Blues win every domestic competition, including the Premier League and FA Cup four times each.

Drogba became a hero to fans, scoring nine goals in nine cup finals – including four successive FA Cup deciders and three in League Cup finals – and becoming the first African to score 100 Premier League goals.

An 88th-minute equaliser and the winning penalty to help Chelsea win the 2012 UEFA Champions League final against Bayern Munich cemented his status as a Stamford Bridge legend.

Didier Drogba Frank Lampard

A season at Chinese club Shanghai Shenhua followed, then a campaign at Galatasaray in which he won the Turkish treble.

More was to come at Chelsea for Drogba, as he returned for a final swansong at the London club, where he was largely used as a substitute in their Premier League and League Cup double of 2014-15 – which ended with Drogba leaving for a second time.

Drogba went on to spend two seasons with Montreal Impact in the MLS and two with Phoenix, where he won the 2018 Western Conference.

As well as 64 goals and 17 assists in 92 appearances for Ivory Coast, here are Drogba's tallies for each of his clubs.

Club Years Appearances Goals Assists
Phoenix 2017-18 26 16 5
Montreal 2015-16 41 23 7
Chelsea 2004-12, 2014-15 381 164 88
Galatasaray 2013-14 53 20 13
Shanghai 2012-13 11 8 2
Marseille 2003-04 55 32 7
Guingamp 2002-03 50 24 4
Le Mans 1998-2002 71 15 1

Didier Drogba Ballon d'Or record

Drogba knows how the nominees for the Ballon d'Or will be feeling because he was one of them on eight occasions.

The highest he finished was fourth in 2007, when he was one of four players to receive more than 100 points in the vote, placing behind Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and winner Kaka.

Messi has finished top of the pile on three occasions when Drogba has been nominated, with Ronaldo also winning once.

Drogba finished on the same number of points as club teammates twice: England midfielder and future Chelsea manager Frank Lampard (in 2004) and Czech goalkeeper Petr Cech (2005).

Year Position Winnner
2004 =17th Andriy Shevchenko
2005 =14th Ronaldinho
2006 8th Fabio Cannavaro
2007 4th Kaka
2008 =21st Cristiano Ronaldo
2009 9th Lionel Messi
2010 9th Lionel Messi
2012 8th Lionel Messi

What time does the 2023 Ballon d'Or ceremony start?

The red carpet arrivals at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris start at 7 p.m. local time, with the ceremony scheduled to start at 8.30 p.m. and finish by 10.30 p.m. All times are estimated by event organisers.

Here's how that arrivals time translates across some of the major territories:

  Date Kickoff time
USA Mon Oct. 30 2:00 p.m. ET
Canada Mon Oct. 30 2:00 p.m. ET
UK Mon Oct. 30 6:00 p.m. GMT
Australia Tue Oct. 31 5:00 a.m. AEDT
India Sun Sep. 24 11:30 p.m. IST
Hong Kong Tue Oct. 31 2:00 a.m. HKT
Malaysia Tue Oct. 31 2:00 a.m. MYT
Singapore Tue Oct. 31 2:00 a.m. SGT
New Zealand Tue Oct. 31 7:00 a.m. NZDT

Where to watch Ballon d'Or 2023 live stream, TV channel

The 2023 Ballon d'Or is a streamable event, with the familiar face of Chelsea legend Drogba presenting.

Fans in the United States can stream the Ballon d'Or ceremony live this Monday, 10/30 at 2:30PM ET on Paramount+. Try it FREE!

Region TV Streaming
USA Paramount+
Canada

Paramount+

UK BBC Red Button, TNT Sports 2, Discovery+
Australia SBS On Demand
India Sony TEN 2 Sony LIV, JioTV
Hong Kong L'Equipe — YouTube
Malaysia L'Equipe — YouTube
Singapore L'Equipe — YouTube
New Zealand L'Equipe — YouTube

Ben Miller

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Ben Miller has been writing about sport for 25 years, following all levels of football as well as boxing, MMA, athletics and tennis. He’s seen five promotions, three relegations, one World Cup winner and home games in at least three different stadiums as a result of his lifelong devotion to Brighton & Hove Albion. His main aim each week is to cover at least one game or event that does not require a last-minute rewrite.