Answer in brief
The 2026 Ballon d'Or will be presented on Monday, October 26, at the London Palladium. The 30-man shortlist published on September 8 includes Ousmane Dembélé, Lamine Yamal, Kylian Mbappé, Harry Kane, Erling Haaland, Lionel Messi and Vitinha. Journalists from the top 100 FIFA-ranked countries each rank ten players for the season from August 3, 2025, to July 19, 2026.
Date and venue: October 26 at the London Palladium
The 2026 Ballon d'Or will be presented on Monday, October 26, at the London Palladium. France Football, which created the award, and UEFA, its co-organizer since 2024, announced the nominees on Tuesday, September 8. Taking the ceremony to London is a nod to England's Stanley Matthews, who won the first Ballon d'Or in 1956.
The date matters because the shortlist and the result are separated by seven weeks. The nominations reward a season that is already over, and the outcome stays secret until the evening of the ceremony, which is why any winner announced before October 26 is a prediction rather than news.
The same night also crowns the women's winner and hands out the Young Talent, Goalkeeper, Coach, Club and Striker of the Year awards and the Sócrates Award, so October 26 settles far more than one trophy.
The full men's shortlist of 30 players
UEFA published the nominees in alphabetical order: Jude Bellingham (England, Real Madrid), Pau Cubarsí (Spain, Barcelona), Marc Cucurella (Spain, Chelsea/Real Madrid), Ousmane Dembélé (France, Paris Saint-Germain), Luis Díaz (Colombia, Bayern München), Bruno Fernandes (Portugal, Manchester United), Gabriel (Brazil, Arsenal), Erling Haaland (Norway, Manchester City), Achraf Hakimi (Morocco, Paris Saint-Germain) and Harry Kane (England, Bayern München).
Next come Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (Georgia, Paris Saint-Germain), Lamine Yamal (Spain, Barcelona), Sadio Mané (Senegal, Al-Nassr), Marquinhos (Brazil, Paris Saint-Germain), Lautaro Martínez (Argentina, Inter), Kylian Mbappé (France, Real Madrid), Nuno Mendes (Portugal, Paris Saint-Germain), Lionel Messi (Argentina, Inter Miami), João Neves (Portugal, Paris Saint-Germain) and Michael Olise (France, Bayern München).
The list ends with Willian Pacho (Ecuador, Paris Saint-Germain), Julián Quiñones (Mexico, Al-Qadsiah), Declan Rice (England, Arsenal), Rodri (Spain, Manchester City/Barcelona), Fabián Ruiz (Spain, Paris Saint-Germain), William Saliba (France, Arsenal), Ferran Torres (Spain, Barcelona/Paris Saint-Germain), Dayot Upamecano (France, Paris Saint-Germain), Vinícius Júnior (Brazil, Real Madrid) and Vitinha (Portugal, Paris Saint-Germain). Where two clubs appear, the player moved during the year being judged.
How the vote works: 100 jurors and 15 points for first place
The award is decided by an international jury of specialist journalists, one from each of the top 100 countries in the FIFA men's ranking in force when the lists were published. The shortlist itself was drawn up by France Football and L'Équipe staff, at least one juror from the previous edition and UEFA ambassadors Luís Figo and Fabio Capello.
Each juror ranks ten players in order of merit, and those places earn 15, 12, 10, 8, 7, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 points. The regulations set three criteria in order of importance: individual performances and a decisive, impressive character; collective performances and titles won; and class and fair play.
The reference period runs from August 3, 2025, to July 19, 2026, the day of the World Cup final. That window explains why form in the new season carries no weight, and why the summer tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico sits at the center of this year's debate.
Spain's World Cup puts six nominees in the spotlight
The biggest event of the reference period ended on July 19, when Spain beat Argentina 1-0 after extra time at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey to win the World Cup. Ferran Torres, one of the 30 nominees, came off the bench and scored the winning goal.
Spain have five other nominees besides Torres: Lamine Yamal, Pau Cubarsí, Marc Cucurella, Rodri and Fabián Ruiz. Because the rules value decisive performances and titles, what each of them contributed to Spain's tournament will weigh heavily in how jurors separate them.
Argentina's run to the final keeps Lionel Messi and Lautaro Martínez in the discussion, while Harry Kane, Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappé bring goal-scoring cases that jurors will have to weigh against those international titles. Real Madrid are represented by Jude Bellingham, Kylian Mbappé and Vinícius Júnior, with Marc Cucurella also listed with the club.
Paris Saint-Germain's ten nominees and a second European title
Paris Saint-Germain retained the Champions League on May 30, beating Arsenal on penalties in Budapest after a 1-1 draw; Ousmane Dembélé equalized from the penalty spot after Kai Havertz had given Arsenal an early lead. That result helps explain why ten nominees are listed as PSG players, with Ferran Torres an eleventh who appears under both Barcelona and PSG.
The PSG nominees are Dembélé, Achraf Hakimi, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Marquinhos, Nuno Mendes, João Neves, Willian Pacho, Fabián Ruiz, Dayot Upamecano and Vitinha. Dembélé is also the reigning winner, having taken the 2025 Ballon d'Or.
Depth can cut both ways in a points system. A dominant team can place several players high on many ballots, but jurors who admire the collective may split their votes among teammates, which can open space for a single standout player from another club. Arsenal, beaten in that final, still have three nominees in Gabriel, Declan Rice and William Saliba.
Lamine Yamal and the youngest names in contention
Lamine Yamal is on both the main shortlist and the ten-man list for the Young Talent award, the Kopa Trophy, alongside his Barcelona and Spain teammate Pau Cubarsí. On September 9, a day after the nominations, he became Barcelona's youngest captain at 19 years and 58 days — a milestone outside the reference period that cannot count toward this year's award.
The rest of the Kopa list is Kerim Alajbegović, Ayyoub Bouaddi, Yan Diomandé, Lennart Karl, Éli Junior Kroupi, Johan Manzambi, Ibrahim Maza and Warren Zaïre-Emery. Several are listed with two clubs, a reminder of how quickly young players move in the modern market.
The overlap between the two lists is easy to misread. A nomination for the main award does not rule a player out of the Kopa, and winning the Kopa says nothing about where he finished in the main ranking. Cubarsí and Yamal are the only two players nominated for both lists this year.
Who is missing, and the other shortlists
Cristiano Ronaldo is not among the 30 men's nominees. Gianluigi Donnarumma, who won the goalkeeper award in 2025, is not on this year's goalkeeper list either.
The Yashin Trophy nominees are Yassine Bounou, Thibaut Courtois, Joan García, Gregor Kobel, Emiliano Martínez, Édouard Mendy, David Raya, Matvey Safonov, Unai Simón and Vozinha. Two of the ten, Joan García and Unai Simón, are Spanish, and Matvey Safonov is listed with Paris Saint-Germain.
The women's Ballon d'Or has its own list of 30 players, which includes Alexia Putellas, Caroline Graham Hansen, Alessia Russo, Ewa Pajor and Khadija Shaw. Its nominees were published on September 8 together with the men's list, and its winner is revealed at the same ceremony.
How to judge the contenders before October 26
Start with the reference season and the published criteria. A player who decided a World Cup or a Champions League final has an argument the rules explicitly reward; a player whose best form arrived after July 19 does not, however impressive the new season looks.
Separate attention from evidence. Search interest and social reach are not voting criteria, and a less famous nominee with decisive matches and trophies can rank above a global star. Jurors also come from 100 different countries, so regional perspectives can shape ballots in ways that no fan poll captures. Several nominees also changed clubs during the year, which makes simple club-by-club comparisons less reliable than they look.
Finally, treat precise win probabilities with suspicion. Nobody outside the jury sees the ballots before the ceremony, so the honest position in September is a shortlist of strong cases rather than a winner.
Practical checklist
- Judge contenders on the reference season from August 3, 2025, to July 19, 2026, not on results since August.
- Weigh decisive individual performances first, then team titles, then class and fair play, as the rules rank them.
- Treat percentage predictions as opinion, because the jury's ballots stay private until the ceremony.
- Check whether a player's two listed clubs reflect a transfer before comparing club achievements.
- Follow the other categories as well — the Kopa, Yashin and women's awards are decided the same night.
Questions and answers
When is the Ballon d'Or 2026 ceremony?
On Monday, October 26, 2026, at the London Palladium in London. The nominees were announced on Tuesday, September 8.
Who are the 2026 Ballon d'Or nominees?
The men's shortlist has 30 players, including Dembélé, Yamal, Mbappé, Kane, Haaland, Messi, Vinícius Júnior, Bellingham, Rodri and Vitinha. The full list is in the article.
How does Ballon d'Or voting work?
One journalist from each of the top 100 FIFA-ranked countries ranks ten players from the shortlist, and those places earn 15, 12, 10, 8, 7, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 points.
Is Cristiano Ronaldo nominated for the 2026 Ballon d'Or?
No. He does not appear on the 30-man shortlist published by France Football and UEFA on September 8, 2026.
Is Lamine Yamal nominated this year?
Yes. He is on the men's Ballon d'Or shortlist and also among the ten nominees for the Young Talent award, the Kopa Trophy.