Football fans are turning their attention to London, which hosts the 2026 Ballon d’Or ceremony on Monday, October 26, to honour the leading players, coaches and clubs from a season that included the FIFA World Cup.
This year’s edition marks the award’s 70th anniversary. The ceremony takes place in London for the first time, paying tribute to England’s Stanley Matthews, the inaugural winner in 1956. France Football organises the awards, while UEFA has jointly organised the ceremony since 2024.
When is the Ballon d’Or 2026 ceremony?
The ceremony takes place at the London Palladium on Monday, October 26, 2026, starting at 8:00pm GMT.
For viewers across the Arab world, that corresponds to:
- 9:00pm on Monday: Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia.
- 11:00pm on Monday: Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and Iraq.
- Midnight, entering Tuesday, October 27: United Arab Emirates and Oman.
Former France international Thierry Henry and British broadcaster Kate Scott host the event, with coverage of the guests and nominees arriving before the awards are presented.
Which channels broadcast the Ballon d’Or 2026 in the Arab world?
Viewers in the Arab region can watch the ceremony free of charge on the free-to-air beIN SPORTS News channel. Coverage is also available through the channel’s YouTube livestream.
The official awards website, ballondor.com, also offers live coverage of the ceremony, alongside updates on the nominees and award announcements.
Men’s Ballon d’Or 2026 nominees
Thirty players are competing for the main award, including defending champion Ousmane Dembélé, record eight-time winner Lionel Messi and 2024 winner Rodri.
The nominees are listed below. Their order does not represent the voting results:
- Jude Bellingham — Real Madrid.
- Pau Cubarsí — Barcelona.
- Marc Cucurella — Chelsea/Real Madrid.
- Ousmane Dembélé — Paris Saint-Germain.
- Luis Díaz — Bayern Munich.
- Bruno Fernandes — Manchester United.
- Gabriel Magalhães — Arsenal.
- Erling Haaland — Manchester City.
- Achraf Hakimi — Paris Saint-Germain.
- Harry Kane — Bayern Munich.
- Khvicha Kvaratskhelia — Paris Saint-Germain.
- Lamine Yamal — Barcelona.
- Sadio Mané — Al-Nassr.
- Marquinhos — Paris Saint-Germain.
- Lautaro Martínez — Inter Milan.
- Kylian Mbappé — Real Madrid.
- Nuno Mendes — Paris Saint-Germain.
- Lionel Messi — Inter Miami.
- João Neves — Paris Saint-Germain.
- Michael Olise — Bayern Munich.
- Willian Pacho — Paris Saint-Germain.
- Julián Quiñones — Al-Qadsiah.
- Declan Rice — Arsenal.
- Rodri — Manchester City/Barcelona.
- Fabián Ruiz — Paris Saint-Germain.
- William Saliba — Arsenal.
- Ferran Torres — Barcelona/Paris Saint-Germain.
- Dayot Upamecano — Bayern Munich.
- Vinícius Júnior — Real Madrid.
- Vitinha — Paris Saint-Germain.
Clubs are shown as they appear in the official nominations, which list two clubs for some players who have transferred.
Women’s Ballon d’Or 2026 nominees
The shortlist features 30 players, with Barcelona, Manchester City, Lyon and Bayern Munich strongly represented:
- Selma Bacha — OL Lyonnes.
- Barbra Banda — Orlando Pride.
- Klara Bühl — Bayern Munich.
- Esmee Brugts — Barcelona.
- Mariona Caldentey — Arsenal.
- Scarlett Camberos — Club América.
- Kerstin Casparij — Manchester City.
- Temwa Chawinga — Kansas City Current.
- Cata Coll — Barcelona.
- Melchie Dumornay — OL Lyonnes.
- Caroline Graham Hansen — Barcelona.
- Alex Greenwood — Manchester City.
- Patri Guijarro — Barcelona.
- Pernille Harder — Bayern Munich.
- Yui Hasegawa — Manchester City.
- Rose Lavelle — Gotham FC.
- Mapi León — Barcelona/London City Lionesses.
- Lorena — Kansas City Current.
- Melvine Malard — Manchester United/Chelsea.
- Manaka Matsukubo — North Carolina Courage/Chelsea.
- Vivianne Miedema — Manchester City.
- Ewa Pajor — Barcelona.
- Clàudia Pina — Barcelona.
- Alexia Putellas — Barcelona/London City Lionesses.
- Wendie Renard — OL Lyonnes.
- Alessia Russo — Arsenal.
- Khadija Shaw — Manchester City.
- Momoko Tanikawa — Bayern Munich.
- Caroline Weir — Real Madrid/OL Lyonnes.
- Tessa Wullaert — Inter Milan/Como.
Men’s Young Talent of the Year 2026 nominees
Previously known as the Kopa Trophy, this award recognises outstanding players under the age of 21. Morocco’s Ayyoub Bouaddi and Algeria’s Ibrahim Maza feature on this year’s shortlist:
- Kerim Alajbegović — Salzburg/Juventus.
- Ayyoub Bouaddi — Lille/Manchester City.
- Pau Cubarsí — Barcelona.
- Yan Diomandé — RB Leipzig/Real Madrid.
- Lennart Karl — Bayern Munich.
- Éli Junior Kroupi — Bournemouth.
- Lamine Yamal — Barcelona.
- Johan Manzambi — Freiburg/Aston Villa.
- Ibrahim Maza — Bayer Leverkusen.
- Warren Zaïre-Emery — Paris Saint-Germain.
Women’s Young Talent of the Year 2026 nominees
Five players are competing for the award, including Vicky López, who won the inaugural women’s edition in 2025:
- Veerle Buurman — Chelsea.
- Vicky López — Barcelona.
- Felicia Schröder — Häcken/Real Madrid.
- Clara Serrajordi — Barcelona.
- Lily Yohannes — OL Lyonnes.
Men’s Goalkeeper of the Year 2026 nominees
Ten goalkeepers are shortlisted for the award previously known as the Yashin Trophy, including Morocco’s Yassine Bounou and Al-Ahli’s Édouard Mendy:
- Yassine Bounou — Al-Hilal.
- Thibaut Courtois — Real Madrid.
- Joan García — Barcelona.
- Gregor Kobel — Borussia Dortmund.
- Emiliano Martínez — Aston Villa/Chelsea.
- Édouard Mendy — Al-Ahli.
- David Raya — Arsenal.
- Matvey Safonov — Paris Saint-Germain.
- Unai Simón — Athletic Club.
- Vozinha — Chaves/Colo-Colo.
Women’s Goalkeeper of the Year 2026 nominees
Five goalkeepers are competing for the award:
- Ann-Katrin Berger — Gotham FC.
- Cata Coll — Barcelona.
- Hannah Hampton — Chelsea.
- Lorena — Kansas City Current.
- Ayaka Yamashita — Manchester City.
Men’s Coach of the Year 2026 nominees
The shortlist for the award previously known as the Johan Cruyff Trophy features five coaches from club and international football:
- Mikel Arteta — Arsenal.
- Luis de la Fuente — Spain.
- Unai Emery — Aston Villa.
- Vincent Kompany — Bayern Munich.
- Luis Enrique — Paris Saint-Germain.
Women’s Coach of the Year 2026 nominees
Five coaches are shortlisted:
- Jonatan Giráldez — OL Lyonnes.
- Andrée Jeglertz — Manchester City.
- Nils Nielsen — for his work with Japan.
- Pere Romeu — Barcelona.
- Elena Sadiku — Häcken.
Men’s Club of the Year 2026 nominees
Five clubs from Europe and South America are competing for the team award:
- Arsenal — England.
- Bayern Munich — Germany.
- Bodø/Glimt — Norway.
- Flamengo — Brazil.
- Paris Saint-Germain — France.
Women’s Club of the Year 2026 nominees
The shortlisted clubs are:
- Barcelona — Spain.
- Bayern Munich — Germany.
- Club América — Mexico.
- Manchester City — England.
- OL Lyonnes — France.
What about the Striker of the Year and Sócrates awards?
The ceremony features 13 annual awards. In addition to the ten categories listed above, there are prizes for the leading male and female goalscorers, plus the Sócrates Award. These follow different selection processes:
- Men’s Striker of the Year, previously known as the Gerd Müller Trophy: Awarded on the basis of official goals scored for club and country during the assessment period, rather than a shortlist and vote.
- Women’s Striker of the Year: Determined by the same goalscoring criterion, without a vote between nominated players.
- Sócrates Award: Recognises humanitarian, charitable and community initiatives. A committee involving the organising bodies selects the winning project. No shortlist was included in the officially announced nominations.
The goalscoring assessment period runs from August 3, 2025, to July 19, 2026.
How is the Ballon d’Or 2026 winner selected?
The award assesses performances over the season, with the 2026 evaluation period running from August 3, 2025, to July 19, 2026. It includes international competitions played during that period, notably the World Cup.
Matches from the beginning of the 2026/27 season therefore fall outside the assessment period, even if they take place before the ceremony.
The men’s award is decided by one journalist from each of the top 100 countries in the FIFA rankings. For the women’s award, voting is restricted to representatives of the top 50 countries.
Each voter ranks ten players from the shortlist. Those selections receive 15, 12, 10, 8, 7, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 point, respectively. The player with the highest total wins. Ties are broken by the number of first-place selections, then second-place selections, and so on.
The assessment criteria, in order of importance, are individual and decisive performances, collective achievements and trophies, followed by sportsmanship and fair play.
