The Ballon d’Or is back for another year as the best players on the planet vye for the top individual prize in the sport.
Nominees have been selected across both the men’s and women’s games, with 30-strong shortlists put forward for both awards.
The best men’s player in the world last year was Paris Saint-Germain’s Ousmane Dembele, who was recognised for a stellar campaign that brought his club a maiden Champions League trophy.
In the 2025/26 season, he racked up 35 goals in 53 games across all competitions, adding 16 assists as Paris claimed the Coupe de France, the French Super Cup, and the domestic Ligue 1 title. They also reached the final of the Club World Cup.
Three-peat: Aitana Bonmati
AFP/Getty
The women’s prize was scooped up by Aitana Bonmati, who won the award for a third consecutive year.
The Barcelona midfielder had played a starring role in her club’s triumph in the Liga F and run to the Champions League final, while she overcame a bout of meningitis to lead Spain to the Euro 2025 final, where they were beaten by England.
How is the Ballon d’Or voted for?
There are two systems used to decide the two winners.
Journalists from France Football and L’Equipe - and sometimes some ex-players - put forward the list of 30 nominees across both games, ranking players on their performances from the season just ended.
One journalist from each of FIFA’s top-ranked nations up to 100 then votes for a top 10 from the players shortlisted.
The 10 players are awarded points dependent on where the journalists rank them, with the top pick garnering 15, the second 12, third 10, fourth eight, fifth seven, sixth five, all the way down to tenth, who receives just one.
Favourite: Harry Kane
PA
As such, those points are then added together, and the winners of the illustrious prizes are the ones with the highest points tallies.
Should players be level on points, then they will be separated by their respective number of first-place votes.
Those voting are given a criteria to use, taking into account individual performance, the player’s character, their respective team’s performance and achievement, as well as class and fair play on the field.