The full shortlists for the 2026 Men’s and Women’s Ballon d’Or awards have been unveiled.
Reigning European champions Paris Saint-Germain boast no fewer than 10 of the 30 players on the men’s shortlist, including reigning champion Ousmane Dembélé and midfielder Vitinha, who ended last season’s running in third.
Lionel Messi features on the shortlist as he seeks to win his ninth Ballon d’Or, while 2024 winner Rodri is back in the picture after a Golden Ball-winning summer at the World Cup with Spain.
Here are all the nominees for the 2026 Ballon d’Or.
|
Player |
Team(s) |
Career nominations |
|
Jude Bellingham |
Real Madrid / England |
4 |
|
Pau Cubarsi |
Barcelona / Spain |
1 |
|
Marc Cucurella |
Chelsea/Real Madrid / Spain |
1 |
|
Ousmane Dembele |
Paris Saint-Germain / France |
2 |
|
Luis Diaz |
Bayern Munich / Colombia |
2 |
|
Bruno Fernandes |
Manchester United / Portugal |
2 |
|
Erling Haaland |
Manchester City / Norway |
6 |
|
Gabriel |
Arsenal / Brazil |
1 |
|
Harry Kane |
Bayern Munich / England |
8 |
|
Achraf Hakimi |
Paris Saint-Germain / Morocco |
2 |
|
Lamine Yamal |
Barcelona / Spain |
3 |
|
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia |
Paris Saint-Germain / Georgia |
3 |
|
Marquinhos |
Paris Saint-Germain / Brazil |
2 |
|
Sadio Mane |
Al Nassr / Senegal |
5 |
|
Lisandro Martinez |
Inter Milan / Argentina |
5 |
|
Kylian Mbappe |
Real Madrid / France |
9 |
|
Nuno Mendes |
Paris Saint-Germain / Portugal |
2 |
|
Lionel Messi |
Inter Miami / Argentina |
17 |
|
Michael Olise |
Bayern Munich / France |
2 |
|
Joao Neves |
Paris Saint-Germain / Portugal |
2 |
|
William Pacho |
Paris Saint-Germain / Ecuador |
1 |
|
Julian Quinones |
Al-Qadsiah / Mexico |
1 |
|
Declan Rice |
Arsenal / England |
3 |
|
Rodri |
Man City/Barcelona / Spain |
3 |
|
Fabian Ruiz |
Paris Saint-Germain / Spain |
2 |
|
Ferran Torres |
Barcelona/PSG / Spain |
1 |
|
William Saliba |
Arsenal / France |
2 |
|
Dayot Upamecano |
Bayern Munich / France |
1 |
|
Vinicius Junior |
Real Madrid / Brazil |
5 |
|
Vitinha |
Paris Saint-Germain / Portugal |
3 |
Ballon d'Or Feminin
The women's Ballon d'Or nominees for 2026 are as follows:
|
Player |
Team(s) |
Career nominations |
|
Selma Bacha |
OL Lyonnes / France |
2 |
|
Barbra Banda |
Orlando Pride / Zambia |
3 |
|
Klara Buhl |
Bayern Munich / Germany |
2 |
|
Esmee Brugts |
Barcelona / Netherlands |
1 |
|
Mariona Caldentey |
Arsenal / Spain |
3 |
|
Scarlett Camberos |
Club America / Mexico |
1 |
|
Kerstin Casparij |
Manchester City / Netherlands |
1 |
|
Temwa Chawinga |
Kansas City Current / Malawi |
2 |
|
Cata Coll |
Barcelona / Spain |
1 |
|
Melchie Dumornay |
OL Lyonnes / Haiti |
2 |
|
Caroline Graham Hansen |
Barcelona / Norway |
3 |
|
Alex Greenwood |
Manchester City / England |
1 |
|
Patri Guijarro |
Barcelona / Spain |
4 |
|
Pernille Harder |
Bayern Munich / Denmark |
5 |
|
Yui Hasegawa |
Manchester City / Japan |
3 |
|
Rose Lavelle |
Gotham City / USWNT |
2 |
|
Mapi Leon |
Barcelona/London City Lionesses / Spain |
2 |
|
Lorena |
Kanas City Current / Brazil |
1 |
|
Melvine Malard |
Manchester United/Chelsea / France |
1 |
|
Manaka Matsukubo |
North Carolina Courage/Chelsea / Japan |
1 |
|
Ewa Pajor |
Barcelona / Poland |
4 |
|
Vivianne Miedema |
Manchester City / Netherlands |
4 |
|
Claudia Pina |
Barcelona / Spain |
2 |
|
Alexia Putellas |
Barcelona/London City Lionesses |
5 |
|
Alessia Russo |
Arsenal / England |
2 |
|
Momoko Tanikawa |
Bayern Munich / Japan |
1 |
|
Wendie Renard |
OL Lyonnes / France |
6 |
|
Khadija Shaw |
Manchester City / Jamaica |
3 |
|
Caroline Weir |
Real Madrid/OL Lyonnes / Scotland |
2 |
|
Tessa Wullaert |
Inter Milan/Como / Belgium |
1 |
Men's Young Talent Of The Year
Here are the nominees for the best young male player across the globe over the past season:
-
Kerim Alajbegovic (Salzburg/Juventus / Bosnia and Herzegovina)
-
Ayyoub Bouaddi (Lille/Manchester City / Morocco)
-
Pau Cubarsi (Barcelona / Spain)
-
Yan Diomande (RB Leipzig/Real Madrid / Ivory Coast)
-
Lennart Karl (Bayern Munich / Germany)
-
Eli Junior Kroupi (Bournemouth)
-
Lamine Yamal (Barcelona / Spain)
-
Johan Manzambi (Freiburg/Aston Villa / Switzerland)
-
Ibrahim Maza (Bayer Leverkusen / Algeria)
-
Warren Zaire-Emery (Paris Saint-Germain / France)
Women's Young Talent Of The Year
The nominees for the best young female player in the world are as follows:
-
Veerle Buurman (Chelsea / Netherlands)
-
Vicky Lopez (Barcelona Femeni / Spain)
-
Felicia Schroder (BK Hacken/Real Madrid / Sweden)
-
Clara Serrajordi (Barcelona Femeni / Spain)
-
Lily Yohannes (OL Lyonnes / USWNT)
Women's Coach Of The Year
The five nominees for the best coach of the year in the women's game are:
-
Jonatan Giraldez (OL Lyonnes)
-
Andree Jeglertz (Manchester City)
-
Nils Nielsen (Japan*)
-
Pere Romeu (Barcelona Femeni)
-
Elena Sadiku (Celtic/BK Hacken)
*Nielsen left the role when his contract expired in April 2026.
Men's Coach Of The Year
The five nominees for the best coach of the year in men's soccer are:
-
Mikel Arteta (Arsenal)
-
Luis de la Fuente (Spain)
-
Unai Emery (Aston Villa)
-
Vincent Kompany (Bayern Munich)
-
Luis Enrique (Paris Saint-Germain)
Women's Goalkeeper Of The Year
The prize for the best goalkeeper in the women's game will be won by one of these nominees:
-
Ann-Katrin Berger (Gotham FC / Germany)
-
Cata Coll (Barcelona Femeni / Spain)
-
Hannah Hampton (Chelsea / England)
-
Lorena (Kansas City Current / Brazil)
-
Ayaka Yamashita (Manchester City / Japan)
Men's Goalkeeper Of The Year
This year's Yashin Trophy will be won by one of these 10 nominees:
-
Yassine Bonou (Al Hilal / Morocco)
-
Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid / Belgium)
-
Gregor Kobel (Borussia Dortmund / Switzerland)
-
Joan Garcia (Barcelona / Spain)
-
Edouard Mendy (Al Ahli / Senegal)
-
Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa/Chelsea / Senegal)
-
David Raya (Arsenal / Spain)
-
Vozinha (Colo Colo / Cape Verde)
-
Unai Simon (Athletic Club / Spain)
-
Matvey Safonov (Paris Saint-Germain / Russia)
Women's Club Of The Year
The nominees for Women's Club Of The Year were the first to be announced. They are:
-
Barcelona Femeni
-
Bayern Munich
-
Club America Femenil
-
Manchester City
-
OL Lyonnes
Men's Club Of The Year
This was the second group of nominees to be announced. The five clubs up for the award are:
-
Arsenal
-
Bayern Munich
-
Bodo/Glimt
-
Flamengo
-
Paris Saint-Germain
How is the Ballon d'Or winner decided?
A panel of international journalists compiled by France Football comes up with the 30 finalists for the men's Ballon d'Or and the Yashin Award shortlist for the world's best goalkeeper.
The voting process for the final award was revised in 2022 to involve a media member from each of the top 100 nations in the FIFA men's world ranking (for the men's Ballon d'Or voting) and from the top 50 nations in the FIFA women's world ranking (for the women's Ballon d'Or vote).
The media members vote by selecting names from the list of finalists, and they rank their selections. Each vote is weighted with different point totals assigned based on the specific ranking of the player on the ballot. After all the votes are tallied, the player with the most points is awarded the Ballon d'Or.
While the award was initially limited to recognizing the best European player on the continent, in 1995 organizers opened it up to non-Europeans plying their trade in Europe to also be considered. In 2007, the award was expanded further so any player across the world could be eligible whether or not they played in Europe.
Alongside the change in timeline, voter base and player eligibility, the voting criteria was also updated in 2022 to eliminate consideration for overall career performance, which potentially skewed the 2021 vote in favor of Messi, and instead focus on three main factors:
-
Individual performance in previous season (no longer by calendar year);
-
Team success during the previous season;
-
Player behavior and fair play during the season in consideration.
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