All you need to know about the 2026 Ballon d’Or

Back for its 70th year, the Ballon d’Or ceremony will once again recognise the best footballing talent in the world.

Run by France Football magazine since 1956, it is widely viewed as the pinnacle of individual prizes for professional footballers worldwide.

As ever, the shortlists of contenders for the biggest awards of the night have been a hot topic of debate among football fans.

• When and where is the Ballon D’or ceremony?

The 2026 Ballon d’Or ceremony will take place at 20:00 GMT on Monday, 26 October, at London’s Palladium Theatre.

It is the first time the event will be held in London, a move which Uefa says is to pay tribute to the inaugural winner, England’s Stanley Matthews in 1956.

The ceremony is traditionally held in France, and has taken place in Paris’ Theatre du Chatelet since 2019.

• How is the winner decided?

A dual voting system is used to determine Ballon d’Or winners.

For the men’s award, a finalised shortlist of 30 players is decided by a team of journalists from both France Football and L’Equipe newspaper and published a couple of months before the ceremony.

This shortlist is then ranked by 100 journalists from around the world, with their rankings combined to decide the winner.

Jurors are instructed to take three factors into account when ranking players. The Ballon d’Or regulations list the following in order of importance:

1. Individual performances, decisive and impressive character
2. Collective performances and titles won
3. Class and fair play

You can read more about the process, and how it works for the women’s award, in our Ballon d’Or voting explainer.

Who are the favourites for the men’s prize?

Image source: Getty Images

Image caption: Harry Kane, Lamine Yamal and Kylian Mbappe are favourites to rank highly for the men’s prize after their performances for club and country

A ceremony that lands in the months following a major tournament always provides extra intrigue – and tournaments don’t come more major than the World Cup.

It means that jurors can take international performance into account when ranking the shortlisted players for the men’s prize.

With Spain victorious in the 2026 World Cup, it could boost the rankings of the six Spanish internationals on the shortlist.

But outstanding individual performances for club and country, even without a return of silverware for the latter, also puts players like Harry Kane, Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland into contention.

• Harry Kane

England captain Kane scored 73 goals across club and international competitions in the 2025-26 season. While jurors are told to only take the most recent season into account when ranking players, Kane’s astonishing 156 goals in 158 games for Bayern Munich since 2023 has lifted him to seventh in the German club’s top scorer list. He has led the Bundesliga’s scoring charts for three consecutive seasons, as well as being Europe’s top overall club goalscorer for 2025-26.

Kane also led his country to their best World Cup finish since they won the tournament in 1966. England won the third-fourth place match to win a bronze medal and he finished fifth top scorer for the tournament.

• Lamine Yamal

The teenager has twice won the men’s Kopa Trophy for best player under the age of 21, taking the prize at both the 2024 and 2025 awards. Having also placed second in the main rankings in 2025, he is once again up for contention in the both the main prize and under-21 categories. The 19-year-old was a key part of both Spain’s World Cup-winning side and Barcelona’s La Liga and Spanish Super Cup-winning season, despite missing a number of matches through injury.

Yamal’s 24 goals and 18 assists across all competitions for Barcelona included eight in the Champions League, putting him ahead of Mbappe as the competition’s highest-scoring under-19.

• Kylian Mbappe

While France fell short of both making the World Cup final and winning the third-place match (losing 6-4 to England), captain Mbappe took home the tournament’s Golden Boot after finding the net 10 times, becoming the contest’s all-time top scorer in the process.

And despite a lack of silverware for Real Madrid, Mbappe scored 42 goals in 44 appearances for his club across all competitions in 2025-26.

• Lionel Messi

While his years of complete Ballon d’Or dominance may be in the past, Messi has still put his name in the mix for a high ranking after captaining his Argentina side to second place in the World Cup.

Eight goals in the competition put him in second place behind Mbappe on the top scorers list, with both players joint-top for assists with four each.

And with 29 goals in 32 appearances helping Inter Miami to their current second-place position in 2026 (with the most recent season running from February to December), individual and club performance are both still a factor for the footballing legend.

• Rodri

The 2024 Ballon d’Or winner has had consecutive seasons marred by injury since taking home the trophy. Ruled out for 220 days for Manchester City after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament during the 2024-25 campaign, and a further few months out in the 2025-26 season with knee problems, the Spain captain has not had nearly as much game time as most of his fellow nominees.

However, leading your side to a Word Cup win could carry a fair amount of voting heft with the jurors. Rodri was also named the best player of the tournament. It is unlikely to be enough to seal the main prize, but it has been a positive year for him.

• Erling Haaland

Manchester City’s star striker helped guide his country to new footballing heights, scoring seven goals to finish as the tournament’s joint-third top scorer as Norway reached their first ever World Cup quarter-finals.

Haaland was also the Premier League’s top scorer for the 2025-26 season with 27 goals, amid a total of 38 club goals across all competitions – including becoming the fastest player to reach 50 Champions League goals, taking just 49 games to do so.

Full list of candidates for the men’s Ballon d’Or:

• Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid/England)
• Pau Cubarsi (Barcelona/Spain)
• Marc Cucurella (Real Madrid/Spain)
• Ousmane Dembele (Paris St-Germain/France)
• Luis Diaz (Bayern Munich/Colombia)
• Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United/Portugal)
• Gabriel (Arsenal/Brazil)
• Erling Haaland (Manchester City/Norway)
• Achraf Hakimi (Paris St-Germain/Morocco)
• Harry Kane (Bayern Munich/England)
• Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (Paris St-Germain/Georgia)
• Lamine Yamal (Barcelona/Spain)
• Sadio Mane (Al-Nassr/Senegal)
• Marquinhos (Paris St-Germain/Brazil)
• Lautaro Martinez (Inter Milan/Argentina)
• Kylian Mbappe (Real Madrid/France)
• Nuno Mendes (Paris St-Germain/Portugal)
• Lionel Messi (Inter Miami/Argentina)
• Joao Neves (Paris St-Germain/Portugal)
• Michael Olise (Bayern Munich/France)
• Willian Pacho (Paris St-Germain/Ecuador)
• Julian Quinones (Al-Qadsiah/Mexico)
• Declan Rice (Arsenal/England)
• Rodri (Barcelona/Spain)
• Fabian Ruiz (Paris St-Germain/Spain)
• William Saliba (Arsenal/France)
• Ferran Torres (Paris St-Germain/Spain)
• Dayot Upamecano (Bayern Munich/France)
• Vinicius Jr (Real Madrid/Brazil)
• Vitinha (Paris St-Germain/Portugal)

Who are the favourites for the women’s prize?

Image source: Getty Images

Image caption: Barcelona have dominated the women’s Ballon d’Or in recent years – but could that change in 2026?

With no major international competitions in the women’s game during the current voting period, jurors can still look to European qualifying matches as well as club performance when allocating their votes.

The current Ballon d’Or holder Aitana Bonmati has been sidelined with injury for the majority of the season following her win, meaning she will not be able to defend her title for a record fourth time.

• Alexia Putellas

When it comes to club and success, it’s hard to ask much more of Alexia Putellas than captaining Barcelona to a continental quadruple in 2025-26, winning the Liga F, Cope de la Reina, Spanish Super Cup and Champions League.

She became Barcelona’s joint-second top scorer of all time after scoring two goals in the Champions League semi-final in May, and earned the player of the tournament award in the process.

The two-time winner could equal her former team-mate Bonmati’s record of three awards, having also been a key part of Spain’s Nations League-winning side.

• Khadija Shaw

The WSL top scorer for a third consecutive season, Khadija shaw appears lightyears ahead of her peers when it comes to goalscoring.

Her 21 league goals – eight goals more than closest rival Alessia Russo – and four assists helped Manchester City to their first title in a decade, topped off with two goals in the FA Cup final to seal the domestic double.

The PFA and FWA women’s footballer of the year also remains Jamaica’s all-time top goalscorer as she captains them through their 2027 World Cup qualification matches.

• Ewa Pajor

Despite two months rules out with injury, Ewa Pajor’s strong showing during Barcelona’s trophy-laden 2025-26 campaign keep her in contention for this year’s Ballon d’Or.

Pajor finished top scorer in the Champions League with 11 goals, leaving her joint-second on the all-time list with former team-mate Putellas. She also scored 16 goals in Liga F to finish second top scorer of the season.

• Melchie Dumornay

Lyon secured a domestic treble in 2025-26 thanks in no small part to Melchie Dumornay, winning the league title as well as the Coupe de France and Coupe de la Ligue.

The France midfielder scored 22 goals and provided 12 assists overall. Despite losing to quadruple-winning Barcelona in the final, Dumornay scored five Champions League goals and was named in the team of the tournament.

Full list of Ballon d’Or Feminin nominees:

• Selma Bacha (Lyon/France)
• Barbra Banda (Orlando Pride/Zambia)
• Klara Buhl (Bayern Munich/Germany)
• Esmee Brugts (Barcelona/Netherlands)
• Mariona Caldentey (Arsenal/Spain)
• Scarlett Camberos (Club America/Mexico)
• Kerstin Casparij (Manchester City/Netherlands)
• Temwa Chawinga (Kansas City Current/Malawi)
• Cata Coll (Barcelona/Spain)
• Melchie Dumornay (Lyon/Haiti)
• Caroline Graham Hansen (Barcelona/Norway)
• Alex Greenwood (Manchester City/England)
• Patri Guijarro (Barcelona/Spain)
• Pernille Harder (Bayern Munich/Denmark)
• Yui Hasegawa (Manchester City/Japan)
• Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC/United States)
• Mapi Leon (London City Lionesses/Spain)
• Lorena (Kansas City Current/Brazil)
• Melvine Malard (Chelsea/France)
• Manaka Matsukubo (Chelsea/Japan)
• Vivianne Miedema (Manchester City/Netherlands)
• Ewa Pajor (Barcelona/Poland)
• Claudia Pina (Barcelona/Spain)
• Alexia Putellas (London City Lionesses/Spain)
• Wendie Renard (Lyon/France)
• Alessia Russo (Arsenal/England)
• Khadija Shaw (Manchester City/Jamaica)
• Momoko Tanikawa (Bayern Munich/Japan)
• Caroline Weir (Lyon/Scotland)
• Tessa Wullaert (Como/Belgium)

Who are the previous winners?

Image source: Getty Images

Image caption: Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo dominated the awards between 2008 and 2015

Lionel Messi holds the record for most men’s Ballon d’Or wins, taking home the trophy eight times, and also holding the record for most consecutive wins with four.

Cristiano Ronaldo is in second place overall, with five wins.

The Ballon d’Or Feminin has been running since 2018, with Spain’s Aitana Bonmati the player with most wins after being awarded the trophy three times.

Full list of men’s winners from the last 30 years:

• 2025 –

  Ousmane Dembele

  (Paris St-Germain/France)

• 2024 –

  Rodri

  (Manchester City/Spain)

• 2023 –

  Lionel Messi

  (Inter Miami/Argentina)

• 2022 –

  Karim Benzema

  (Real Madrid/France)

• 2021 –

  Lionel Messi

  (Paris St-Germain/Argentina)

• 2020 –

  no award

• 2019 –

  Lionel Messi

  (Barcelona/Argentina)

• 2018 –

  Luka Modric

  (Real Madrid/Croatia)

• 2017 –

  Cristiano Ronaldo

  (Real Madrid/Portugal)

• 2016 –

  Cristiano Ronaldo

  (Real Madrid/Portugal)

• 2015 –

  Lionel Messi

  (Barcelona/Argentina)

• 2014 –

  Cristiano Ronaldo

  (Real Madrid/Portugal)

• 2013 –

  Cristiano Ronaldo

  (Real Madrid/Portugal)

• 2012 –

  Lionel Messi

  (Barcelona/Argentina)

• 2011 –

  Lionel Messi

  (Barcelona/Argentina)

• 2010 –

  Lionel Messi

  (Barcelona/Argentina)

• 2009 –

  Lionel Messi

  (Barcelona/Argentina)

• 2008 –

  Cristiano Ronaldo

  (Manchester United/Portugal)

• 2007 –

  Kaka

  (AC Milan/Brazil)

• 2006 –

  Fabio Cannavaro

  (Real Madrid/Italy)

• 2005 –

  Ronaldinho

  (Barcelona/Brazil)

• 2004 –

  Andriy Shevchenko

  (AC Milan/Ukraine)

• 2003 –

  Pavel Nedved

  (Juventus/Czech Republic)

• 2002 –

  Ronaldo

  (Real Madrid/Brazil)

• 2001 –

  Michael Owen

  (Liverpool/England)

• 2000 –

  Luis Figo

  (Real Madrid/Portugal)

• 1999 –

  Rivaldo

  (Barcelona/Brazil)

• 1998 –

  Zinedine Zidane

  (Juventus/France)

• 1997 –

  Ronaldo

  (Inter Milan/Brazil)

• 1996 –

  Matthias Sammer

  (Borussia Dortmund/Germany)

Full list of women’s winners:

• 2025 –

  Aitana Bonmati

  (Spain/Barcelona)

• 2024 –

  Aitana Bonmati

  (Spain/Barcelona)

• 2023 –

  Aitana Bonmati

  (Spain/Barcelona)

• 2022 –

  Alexia Putellas

  (Spain/Barcelona)

• 2021 –

  Alexia Putellas

  (Spain/Barcelona)

• 2020 –

  no award

• 2019 –

  Megan Rapinoe

  (USA/Seattle Reign)

• 2018 –

  Ada Hegerberg

  (Norway/Lyon)

What awards will be given out?

While the men’s award has been given out for 70 years, additional awards have been added to the ceremony over the years.

There will be 13 awards given out at the ceremony:

• Men’s and Women’s Ballon d’Or
• Men’s and Women’s Kopa Trophy (for players under 21 years old)
• Men’s and Women’s Yashin Trophy (for best goalkeeper)
• Men’s and Women’s Gerd Muller Trophy (for best striker)
• Men’s and Women’s Johan Cruyff Trophy (for best coach)
• Men’s and Women’s Club of the Year
• Socrates Award (for humanitarian and societal causes)