2026 Ballon d'Or Nominees Announced – Stars Shine in London

The race for the 2026 Ballon d'Or is officially on – and this time, football’s biggest individual prize will be handed out under the London lights.

French magazine France Football, in partnership with UEFA, unveiled the full list of nominees on Tuesday evening, confirming the cast of stars who will contest the game’s most coveted personal award. The winner will be crowned on 26 October, when the ceremony heads to London for the first time in the award’s history.

That night will not be about one trophy alone. The gala will also deliver the Yashin award for best goalkeeper, the Kopa award for best young player, and honours for best coach, best club and more, turning the capital into the centre of the football world for one evening.

Mbappé, Messi, Rodri headline stacked field

At the top end of the list, the familiar giants are back in the spotlight.

Kylian Mbappé, now the marquee name at Real Madrid and still the spearhead of France, leads a group of contenders who shaped last season and the 2026 World Cup. Lionel Messi, captain of Inter Miami and Argentina, returns to the ballot yet again, his name still synonymous with this award even in the later years of his career.

Rodri, the metronome who dominated midfields for Manchester City before his move to Barcelona, stands as the great conductor in the group, his influence for club and country placing him firmly among the favourites.

Around them, the new and the established collide. Lamine Yamal, the Barcelona and Spain sensation, continues his rapid rise by earning a place among the elite. Fabián Ruiz arrives as a serial winner, having lifted both the Champions League and the World Cup with Paris Saint-Germain and Spain, a double that few can match.

Defending Ballon d'Or holder Ousmane Dembélé is back as well. The Paris Saint-Germain and France winger returns to protect his crown in a season where his club form and international pedigree once again keep him on the biggest stage.

Spain and PSG dominate, Saudi league breaks through

The pattern across the list is clear: world champions Spain and European champions Paris Saint-Germain dominate the landscape.

PSG flood the nominees with names: Dembélé, Achraf Hakimi, Marquinhos, Nuno Mendes, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, João Neves, Willian Pacho, Vitinha and Fabián Ruiz all represent the Paris club. Their presence underlines the grip the French champions have had on the European game.

Spain’s influence runs just as deep. Lamine Yamal, Fabián Ruiz, Pau Cubarsí, Ferran Torres and Marc Cucurella headline a generation that has turned international trophies into habit.

Yet the list also reflects the shifting map of the sport. Two players from the Saudi Roshn Pro League force their way into the conversation: Sadio Mané of Al-Nassr, representing Senegal, and Julián Quiñones, the prolific Mexican forward leading the line for Al-Qadsiah. Their inclusion signals that the Saudi project now has genuine weight in the global awards debate.

Big omissions: Ronaldo, Salah, Pedri left out

For all the star power on show, some absences will dominate the early conversations.

Cristiano Ronaldo, captain of Al-Nassr and Portugal and a name once welded to the Ballon d'Or shortlist, is missing. So is Mohamed Salah, the former Liverpool talisman now at Trabzon and still the standard-bearer for Egypt. Both have long been fixtures in this arena; this time, they watch from the outside.

Barcelona and Brazil winger Raphinha also drops out of contention, as does Pedri, the Barcelona and Spain midfielder who had previously been tipped as a long-term heir to the award. Their omissions underline just how brutal the competition has become at the very top.

The full list of 2026 Ballon d'Or nominees

• Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid, England)
• Pau Cubarsí (Barcelona, Spain)
• Marc Cucurella (Chelsea, Spain)
• Ousmane Dembélé (Paris Saint-Germain, France)
• Luis Díaz (Bayern Munich, Colombia)
• Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United, Portugal)
• Gabriel (Arsenal, Brazil)
• Erling Haaland (Manchester City, Norway)
• Achraf Hakimi (Paris Saint-Germain, Morocco)
• Harry Kane (Bayern Munich, England)
• Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (Paris Saint-Germain, Georgia)
• Lamine Yamal (Barcelona, Spain)
• Sadio Mané (Al-Nassr, Senegal)
• Marquinhos (Paris Saint-Germain, Brazil)
• Lautaro Martínez (Inter Milan, Argentina)
• Kylian Mbappé (Real Madrid, France)
• Nuno Mendes (Paris Saint-Germain, Portugal)
• Lionel Messi (Inter Miami, Argentina)
• João Neves (Paris Saint-Germain, Portugal)
• Michael Olise (Bayern Munich, France)
• Willian Pacho (Paris Saint-Germain, Ecuador)
• Julián Quiñones (Al-Qadsiah, Mexico)
• Declan Rice (Arsenal, England)
• Rodri (Manchester City, Spain)
• Fabián Ruiz (Paris Saint-Germain, Spain)
• William Saliba (Arsenal, France)
• Ferran Torres (Barcelona, Spain)
• Dayot Upamecano (Bayern Munich, France)
• Vinícius Júnior (Real Madrid, Brazil)
• Vitinha (Paris Saint-Germain, Portugal)

The names are set, the stage is chosen, and London now waits to discover whose season will be carved into Ballon d'Or history.