The Ballon d’Or ceremony takes place tonight with a men’s and women’s winner set to be announced in London on Monday 26 October.
England captain and Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane is the favourite, with Spain and Barcelona superstar Lamine Yamal a close second as debate swirls around the biggest individual prize in the sport.
Kane is aiming to be the first English player to win the men’s award since Michael Owen in 2001, despite lacking a continental trophy, with the 33-year-old’s gluttony for goals and assists positioning him nicely to secure a career-high honour.
Rodri, the Ballon d’Or winner in 2024, won the golden ball at the World Cup after leading Spain to glory while France and Real Madrid star Kylian Mbappe broke the World Cup goalscoring record after hitting an incredible 10 goals across the tournament.
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who has since suffered a season-ending knee injury was absent from the World Cup but was arguably the standout player in the men’s Champions League last season after inspiring back-to-back titles for Paris Saint-Germain.
When is the Ballon d’Or 2026 ceremony?
The Ballon d’Or ceremony will take place in London on Monday, 26 October, with the event getting underway from 8pm GMT.
You can watch the ceremony on the official website ballondor.com or DAZN, globally, with a free live stream available from both, while Independent Sport will bring you a live blog with updates, reaction and analysis.
Nominations
Men’s Ballon d’Or
- Jude Bellingham ( Real Madrid and England)
- Pau Cubarsi (Barcelona and Spain)
- Marc Cucurella (Chelsea/Real Madrid and Spain)
- Ousmane Dembele (Paris Saint-Germain and France)
- Luis Diaz (Bayern Munich and Colombia)
- Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United and Portugal)
- Gabriel Magalhaes (Arsenal and Brazil)
- Erling Haaland (Manchester City and Norway)
- Achraf Hakimi (Paris Saint-Germain and Morocco)
- Harry Kane (Bayern Munich and England)
- Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (Paris Saint-Germain and Georgia)
- Lamine Yamal (Barcelona and Spain)
- Sadio Mane (Al Nassr and Senegal)
- Marquinhos (Paris Saint-Germain and Brazil)
- Lautaro Martinez (Inter Milan and Argentina)
- Kylian Mbappe (Real Madrid and France)
- Nuno Mendes (Paris Saint-Germain and Portugal)
- Lionel Messi (Inter Miami and Argentina)
- Joao Neves (Paris Saint-Germain and Portugal)
- Michael Olise (Bayern Munich and France)
- Willian Pacho (Paris Saint-Germain and Ecuador)
- Julian Quinones (Al Qadsiah and Mexico)
- Declan Rice (Arsenal and England)
- Rodri (Manchester City/Barcelona and Spain)
- Fabian Ruiz (Barcelona/Paris Saint-Germain and Spain)
- William Saliba (Arsenal and France)
- Ferran Torres (Paris Saint-Germain and Spain)
- Dayot Upamecano ( Bayern Munich and France)
- Vinicius Jr (Real Madrid and Brazil)
- Vitinha (Paris Saint-Germain and Portugal)
Latest odds for men’s award
Harry Kane 4/11
Lamine Yamal 9/4
Kylian Mbappe 16/1
Lionel Messi 20/1
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia 66/1
Odds via Betfair
Women's Ballon d'Or
- Selma Bacha (OL Lyonnes and France)
- Barbra Banda (Orlando Pride and Zambia)
- Esmee Brugts (Barcelona and Netherlands)
- Klara Buhl (Bayern Munich and Germany)
- Mariona Caldentey (Arsenal and Spain)
- Scarlett Camberos (Club America and Mexico)
- Temwa Chawinga (Kansas City Current and Malawi)
- Kerstin Casparij (Manchester City and Netherlands)
- Cata Coll (Barcelona and Spain)
- Corventina Dumornay (OL Lyonnes and Haiti)
- Caroline Graham Hansen (Barcelona and Norway)
- Alex Greenwood (Manchester City and England)
- Patri Guijarro (Barcelona and Spain)
- Pernille Harder (Bayern Munich and Denmark)
- Yui Hasegawa (Manchester City and Japan)
- Rose Lavelle (FC Gotham and USA)
- Mapi Leon (Barcelona / London City and Spain)
- Lorena Leite (Kansas City Current and Brazil)
- Manaka Matsukobo (Chelsea and Japan)
- Melvine Malard (Manchester Utd / Chelsea and France)
- Ewa Pajor (Barcelona and Poland)
- Vivianne Miedema (Manchester City and Netherlands)
- Alexia Putellas (Barcelona/London City Lionesses and Spain)
- Claudia Pina (Barcelona and Spain)
- Wendie Renard (OL Lyonnes and France)
- Alessia Russo (Arsenal and England)
- Momoko Tanikawa (Bayern Munich and Japan)
- Khadija Shaw (Manchester City and Jamaica)
- Tessa Wullaert (Como and Belgium)
- Caroline Weir (Real Madrid and Scotland)
Men's Goalkeeper of the Year
- Yassine Bounou (Al Hilal and Morocco)
- Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid and Belgium)
- Gregor Kobel (Borussia Dortmund and Switerland)
- Joan Garcia (Barcelona and Spain)
- Edouard Mendy (Al-Ahli and Senegal)
- Emi Martinez (Aston Villa/Chelsea and Argentina)
- David Raya (Arsenal and Spain)
- Vozinha (GD Chaves/Colo-Colo and Cape Verde)
- Unai Simon (Athletic Bilbao and Spain)
- Matvey Safonov (PSG and Russia)
Women's Goalkeeper of the Year
- Ann-Katrin Berger (Gotham FC/Germany)
- Cata Coll (Barcelona/Spain)
- Hannah Hampton (Chelsea/England)
- Lorena (Kansas City/Brazil)
- Ayaka Yamashita (Manchester City/Japan)
Men's Young Talent of the Year
- Kerim Alajbegovic (RB Salzburg/Juventus/Bosnia & Herzegovina)
- Ayyoub Bouaddi (Lille/Manchester City/Morocco)
- Pau Cubarsi (Barcelona/Spain)
- Yan Diomande (RB Leizig/Real Madrid/Ivory Coast)
- Lennart Karl (Bayern Munich/Germany)
- Eli Junior Kroupi (Bournemouth/France)
- Johan Manzambi (Freiburg/Aston Villa/Switzerland)
- Lamine Yamal (Barcelona/Spain)
- Ibrahim Maza (Bayer Leverkusen/Algeria)
- Warren Zaire-Emery (PSG/France)
Women's Young Talent of the Year
- Veerle Buurman (Chelsea/Netherlands)
- Vicky Lopez (Barcelona/Spain)
- Felicia Schroder (Real Madrid/BK Hacken/Sweden)
- Clara Serrajordi (Barcelona/Spain)
- Lily Yohannes (OL Lyonnes/USA)
Men's Coach of the Year
- Mikel Arteta - Arsenal
- Luis De La Fuente - Spain
- Unai Emery - Aston Villa
- Vincent Kompany - Bayern Munich
- Luis Enrique - PSG
Women's Coach of the Year
- Jonatan Giraldez - OL Lyonnes
- Andree Jeglertz - Man City
- Nils Nielsen - most recently Japan
- Pere Romeu - FCB
- Elena Sadiku - Celtic/BK Hacken
Men's Club of the Year
- Arsenal
- Bayern Munich
- Bodo/Glimt
- Flamengo
- PSG
Women's Club of the Year
