Ballon d’Or 2026: Organisers announce nominees
The organisers of the Ballon d’Or have announced the nominees for the different categories of the 2026 edition of the award on Tuesday afternoon.
African soccer stars including Nigerian winger Ademola Lookman of Athletico Madrid, Yassine Bounou of Al Hilal (Morocco), Édouard Mendy of Al-Ahli (Senegal) and Vozinha of Colo-Colo (Cape Verde) have all been named in the men’s list.
Lookman who moved from Atalanta to Athletico Madrid made the list despite not appearing at the World Cup, while the likes of Bounou, Mendy and Vozinha were nominated in the Men’s Goalkeeper of the Year roaster.
The official 30-man men’s Ballon d’Or list features other top players including; Lamine Yamal, Jude Bellingham, Erling Halaand Harry Kane, Rodriguez Hernández (Rodri) and Kylian Mbappe.
Notable omissions from this year’s Ballon d’Or list include Cristiano Ronaldo (who is missing out for the fourth consecutive year), Bukayo Saka, and Brazilian winger, Raphinha.
The Ballon d’Or ceremony will be hosted at the London Palladium Theatre in London, England, with the event taking place on Monday, October 26, 2026.
2026 Ballon d’Or Contenders
Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid/England)
Pau Cubarsi (Barcelona/Spain)
Marc Cucurella (Real Madrid/Spain)
Ousmane Dembele (Paris St-Germain/France)
Luis Diaz (Bayern Munich/Colombia)
Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United/Portugal)
Gabriel (Arsenal/Brazil)
Erling Haaland (Manchester City/Norway)
Achraf Hakimi (Paris St-Germain/Morocco)
Harry Kane (Bayern Munich/England)
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (Paris St-Germain/Georgia)
Lamine Yamal (Barcelona/Spain)
Sadio Mane (Al-Nassr/Senegal)
Marquinhos (Paris St-Germain/Brazil)
Lautaro Martinez (Inter Milan/Argentina)
Kylian Mbappe (Real Madrid/France)
Nuno Mendes (Paris St-Germain/Portugal)
Lionel Messi (Inter Miami/Argentina)
Joao Neves (Paris St-Germain/Portugal)
Michael Olise (Bayern Munich/France)
Willian Pacho (Paris St-Germain/Ecuador)
Julian Quinones (Al-Qadsiah/Mexico)
Declan Rice (Arsenal/England)
Rodri (Barcelona/Spain)
Fabian Ruiz (Paris St-Germain/Spain)
William Saliba (Arsenal/France)
Ferran Torres (Paris St-Germain/Spain)
Dayot Upamecano (Bayern Munich/France)
Vinicius Jr (Real Madrid/Brazil)
Vitinha (Paris St-Germain/Portugal)
Women’s Ballon d’Or
Selma Bacha
Barbra Banda
Klara Bühl
Esmee Brugts
Mariona Caldentey
Scarlett Camberos
Kerstin Casparij
Temwa Chawinga
Cata Coll
Melchie Dumornay
Caroline Graham Hansen
Alex Greenwood
Patri Guijarro
Pernille Harder
Yui Hasegawa
Rose Lavelle
Mapi León
Lorena
Melvine Malard
Manaka Matsukubo
Vivianne Miedema
Ewa Pajor
Claudia Pina
Alexia Putellas
Wendie Renard
Alessia Russo
Khadija Shaw
Momoko Tanikawa
Caroline Weir
Tessa Wullaert
Men’s young talent of the year nominations
Kerim Alajbegovic (Bayer Leverkusen/Bosnia-Herzegovina)
Ayyoub Bouaddi (Man City/France)
Pau Cubarsi (Barcelona/Spain)
Yan Diomande (Real Madrid/Ivory Coast)
Lennart Karl (Bayern Munich/Germany)
Eli Junior Kroupi (Bournemouth)
Lamine Yamal (Barcelona/Spain)
Johan Manzambi (Aston Villa/Switzerland)
Ibrahim Maza (Bayer Leverkusen/Algeria)
Warren Zaire-Emery (France/Paris St-Germain)
Men’s goalkeeper of the year nominations
The heroics of Cape Verde keeper Vozinha were one of the highlights of the 2026 World Cup and, along with Arsenal and Spain stopper David Raya, he is on the list for the men’s Ballon d’Or goalkeeper award.
The nominations are:
Yassine Bounou (Al-Hilal/Morocco)
Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid)
Joan Garcia (Barcelona/Spain)
Gregor Kobel (Borussia Dortmund/Switzerland)
Emiliano Martínez (Aston Villa/Chelsea/Argentina)
Edouard Mendy (Al-Ahli/Senegal)
David Raya (Arsenal/Spain)
Matvey Safonov (Paris St-Germain/Russia)
Unai Simon (Athletic Bilbao/Spain)
Vozinha (Colo-Colo/Cape Verde)
Men’s coach of the year nominations
Mikel Arteta (Arsenal)
Unai Emery (Aston Villa)
Luis Enrique (Paris St-Germain)
Luis de la Fuente (Spain)
Vincent Kompany (Bayern Munich)
Men’s club of the year nominations
Arsenal (England)
Bayern Munich (Germany)
Bodo/Glimt (Norway)
Flamengo (Brazil)
Paris St-Germain (France)
