When is the Ballon d'Or 2026? How to watch, time, full list of nominees, and hosts for the ceremony

Full details of how to watch the Ballon d’Or 2026 ceremony.

The Ballon d’Or awards return for it’s annual ceremony later this month, as the footballing world gathers in London to discover which player will be named the winner at this year’s prestigious awards.

Loosely translated as ‘the golden ball’, the highly anticipated awards ceremony celebrates its 70th anniversary this year and has moved to England for the first time in history to mark the occasion. With the long-running trophy to be decided by well-respected French magazine France Football, the nominees have already been announced, with an award presented for both the men’s and women’s game.

First established in 1956, the award was conceived by the French sports writing duo of Gabriel Hanot and Jacques Ferran and has celebrated some of the world’s most iconic names. This year will see Scotland have a nominee in the awards for the second year in succession, with Lyon’s Caroline Weir up for the women’s awards. However, last year’s men’s nominee Scott McTominay sadly misses out.

Alongside the two main awards, there are also trophies handed out for best under-21 player (Kopa Trophy), best goalkeeper (Yashin Trophy), top scorer (Gerd Muller Trophy), best coach (Johan Cruyff Trophy), club of the year, and finally the Socrates Award for the player who is deemed to have made the biggest humanitarian or societal contribution.

Want to watch the Ballon d’Or 2026 ceremony live? Here’s everything you need to know about this year’s awards.

Ballon d’Or 2026 date and venue details

The prestigious award ceremony will take place at the London Palladium Theatre in London, England. It will take place on Monday, October 26, 2026, with the event scheduled to begin at 8pm.

Ballon d’Or 2026 hosts

CBS presenter and British broadcast journalist Kate Scott will be host the event, and she will be joined by Arsenal legend and former TV co-host Thierry Henry, who was a runner-up for the Ballon d’Or in 2003. He takes over co-hosting duties from Ruud Gullit, who co-presented alongside Scott last year.

Ballon d'Or 2026 TV channel

The Ballon d’Or ceremony 2026 has not been chosen for live TV broadcast in the United Kingdom and Ireland, but will be available on streaming services. More on that below.

Ballon d’Or 2026 live stream

The ceremony will via available to stream via the DAZN app for FREE in the United Kingdom and Ireland, which can be watched via a smart TV, laptop, tablet or smart phone.

To watch the ceremony live, you must sign up for a free DAZN membership. Details on how to do so are available here.

Who won the Ballon d’Or last year?

Last year’s men’s award was won by Paris Saint-Germain and France forward Ousmane Dembele. The women’s award was won by Barcelona and Spain star Aitana Bonmati for a third consecutive year - can she do it for a fourth year straight?

Ballon d’Or 2026 nominees

The full list of nominations is as follows:

Men’s award

Women’s award

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