Ballon d’Or 2026: All you need to know ahead of Monday’s ceremony in London

The 2026 Ballon d'Or ceremony takes place in London for the first time ever on Monday October 26 - here is everything you need to know ahead of the event…

What is the Ballon d'Or?

Created in 1956 by two sports writers from France Football, a French magazine, the Ballon d'Or is the award given to the best men's and women's player in world football.

France Football remain the organisers of the award and the voting but the ceremony is co-organised with UEFA, European football's governing body.

Initially, the prize was created to crown the best men's player from Europe. In 1995, this was expanded to include non-Europeans playing on the continent before it became a global award in 2007.

The Women's Ballon d'Or was introduced for the first time in 2018. Ada Hegerberg, who was playing for Lyon at the time, was the inaugural winner.

Where is the ceremony and what time is it?

This year's ceremony marks the 70th anniversary of the Ballon d'Or and is taking place in London to pay tribute to the inaugural winner, England's Stanley Matthews.

The venue is the London Palladium theatre in Soho, with the ceremony beginning at 8pm.

Who are the Ballon d'Or 2026 favourites?

Barcelona and Spain winger Lamine Yamal was odds-on to win this year's men's prize, but Bayern Munich and England striker Harry Kane has now taken his place as the bookies' favourite.

London City Lionesses and Spain star Alexia Putellas is the clear frontrunner for the women's Ballon d'Or with her former Barcelona team-mates Ewa Pajor and Aitana Bonmati, the previous winner, closest behind her with the bookies.

For the full list of nominess, go to the bottom of this page.

What is the voting criteria?

Players are judged for their performances over the entirety of last season from August 3 2025 until July 19 2026.

The Ballon d'Or is judged across three key criteria, in descending order of importance:

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

Who votes for the Ballon d'Or?

The Ballon d'Or winners are voted for by "an international jury of specialised journalists", according to the awards' website.

For the men's prize, one journalist is selected to represent every country in the top 100 FIFA rankings, and for the women's award it is one journalist for each nation in the top 50.

This is based on the FIFA rankings in effect at the time, which in this instance is from September 8, 2026.

Each "juror" picks 10 players from the 30-player shortlist in descending order of preference.

The shortlist is chosen by France Football's editorial staff, members of L'Equipe's editorial staff, one juror from the previous edition, and UEFA ambassadors Luis Figo and Fabio Capello for the men's trophy and Nadine Kessler for the women's trophy.

How does the point scoring system work?

The 10 players named by each voting journalist are awarded 15, 12, 10, 8, 7, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 points respectively.

The Ballon d'Or is awarded to the player with the highest total number of points.

If two players are equal on points, the number of first-place votes is used as a tie-breaker, and this will continue with second-place and third-place and so on if the tie persists.

Any dispute from the vote is settled by the editor-in-chief of France Football.

Who are the past men's winners?

Paris Saint-Germain and France star Ousmane Dembele is the reigning Ballon d'Or winner. The prize has gone to a different player in each of the last four editions, with Rodri, Lionel Messi and Karim Benzema taking home the golden ball.

However, before that Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo dominated the Ballon d'Or for 13 years save for 2018 when Luka Modric picked up the award.

Messi has won the Ballon d'Or a record eight times with his great rival Ronaldo the closest behind him on five. For 10 consecutive years, between 2008 and 2017, they were the only players to win the award.

France legend Michel Platini (1983, 1984, 1985) is one of three players to win the Ballon d'Or three times along with Dutch duo Johan Cruyff and Marco van Basten.

England's Kevin Keegan, who died earlier this year aged 75, has won the award twice - one of five players to do so with Brazilian Ronaldo, Spain's Alfredo Di Stefano and Germany duo Franz Beckenbauer and Karl-Heinz Rumenigge.

Who was the last English winner?

Kane is aiming to become the first Englishman to win the Ballon d'Or since 2001 and the fifth in history to take home the golden ball.

Four players from England have won the Ballon d'Or: Matthews (1956), Sir Bobby Charlton (1966), Keegan (1978 & 1979) and Michael Owen (2001).

The United Kingdom has had six winners in total, with Northern Ireland's George Best (1968) and Scotland's Denis Law (1964).

What have been the closest votes?

Kane and Lamine Yamal have traded places as the bookies' favourites for this year's prize, which suggests the voting will be extremely close.

The closest runner-up under the current voting structure, which has been in place since 2016, was in 2019. Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk finished runner-up to Messi, losing by a seven-point margin.

Messi came out on top of another closely fought battle in 2021, beating then Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski by 33 points. Lewandowski was widely expected to win the award the year prior before it was cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic.

In 2024, when Real Madrid star Vinicius Junior came second behind then-Man City midfielder Rodri, the difference was 105 points.

What is the vote for your BOAT?

This year, fans are being asked to vote for their 'Ballon d'Or Of All Time'. So what is it?

Well, anyone can log-in to the Ballon d'Or website to vote on which past winner they believe was the best.

However, they can only pick from one of the 10 players to have picked up the golden ball on at least two occasions.

Those who pay the €1 fee to cast their vote will earn a chance at tickets to next year's ceremony.

Which other awards are up for grabs?

The Ballon d'Or ceremony presents a number of awards beyond simply crowning the best men's and women's player of the season. In fact, there are six other prizes up for grabs:

Men's and Women's Young Talent of the Year - First named the Kopa Trophy, this award celebrates the stand-out players under the age of 21. The voting panel is made up of exclusively former Ballon d'Or winners, who cast a top-three vote (awarding 5,3 and 1 points).

Men's and Women's Goalkeeper of the Year - Formerly known as the Lev Yashin Trophy, in honour of the only goalkeeper to ever win the Ballon d'Or, this prize is given to the best goalkeeper of the year. The voting system is the same as the Ballon d'Or trophies.

Men's and Women's Coach of the Year - Previously named the Johan Cruyff Trophy, in honour of the great Barcelona head coach,

Men's and Women's Striker of the Year - Initially named the Gerd Muller Trophy, in tribute to the prolific Germany goalscorer, this prize is given to the player with the most goals in the past season in all competitive matches.

Men's and Women's Club of the Year - This award, according to the Ballon d'Or website, recognises "collective excellence, style of play, results exceeding expectations, and titles secured across the campaign". The jury of journalists vote to decide the winner with number of Ballon d'Or nominees the tie-breaker in the event of a tie.

Socrates Award - Inspired by Brazil legend Socrates, this prize is different from any of the others given out at the Ballon d'Or ceremony. It celebrates "humanitarian work, charity projects, and social solidarity initiatives" off the pitch.

Who is nominated for Men's Ballon d'Or?

Jude Bellingham - Real Madrid & England

Pau Cubarsi - Barcelona & Spain

Marc Cucurella - Chelsea/Real Madrid & Spain

Ousmane Dembele - PSG & France

Luis Diaz - Bayern Munich & Colombia

Bruno Fernandes - Man Utd & Portugal

Gabriel - Arsenal & Brazil

Erling Haaland - Man City & Norway

Achraf Hakimi - PSG & Morocco

Harry Kane - Bayern Munich & England

Kvicha Kvaratskhelia - PSG & Georgia

Lamine Yamal - Barcelona & Spain

Sadio Mane - Al Nassr & Senegal

Marquinhos - PSG & Brazil

Lautaro Martinez - Inter & Argentina

Kylian Mbappe - Real Madrid & France

Nuno Mendes - PSG & Portugal

Lionel Messi - Inter Miami & Argentina

Joao Neves - PSG & Portugal

Michael Olise - Bayern Munich & France

Willian Pacho - PSG & Ecuador

Julian Quinones - Al Qadsiah & Mexico

Declan Rice - Arsenal & England

Rodri - Man City/Barcelona & Spain

Fabian Ruiz - PSG & Spain

William Saliba - Arsenal & France

Ferran Torres - Barcelona/PSG & Spain

Dayot Upamecano - Bayern Munich & France

Vinicius Jr - Real Madrid & Brazil

Vitinha - PSG & Portugal

Who is nominated for Women's Ballon d'Or?

Selina Bacha - Lyon & France

Barbra Banda - Orlando Fire & Zambia

Klara Buhl - Bayern Munich & Germany

Esmee Brugts - Barcelona & Netherlands

Mariona Caldentey - Arsenal & Spain

Scarlett Camberos - Club America & Mexico

Kerstin Casparij - Man City & Netherlands

Temwa Chawinga - Kansas City Current & Malawi

Cata Coll - Barcelona & Spain

Melchie Dumornay - Lyon & Haiti

Caroline Graham Hansen - Barcelona & Norway

Alex Greenwood - Man City & England

Patri Guijarro - Barcelona & Spain

Pernille Harder - Bayern Munich & Denmark

Yui Hasegawa - Man City & Japan

Rose Lavelle - Gotham FC & USA

Mapi Leon - Barcelona/London City Lionesses & Spain

Lorena - Kansas City Current & Brazil

Melvine Malard - Man Utd/Chelsea & France

Manaka Matsukubo - North Carolina Courage/Chelsea & Japan

Vivianne Miedema - Man City & Netherlands

Ewa Pajor - Barcelona & Poland

Caludia Pina - Barcelona & Spain

Alexia Putellas - Barcelona/London City Lionesses & Spain

Wendie Renard - Lyon/France

Alessia Russo - Arsenal & England

Khadija Shaw - Man City/Jamaica