Ballon d'Or 2026: all the nominees, the award date, and the prizes

This Tuesday, September 8, just over a month and a half before the award ceremony, the nominees for the Ballon d'Or 2026 were announced. As happens every year, there will be expected names and also possible surprises among the candidates.

The most important trophy in the world, like the other individual awards, recognizes the performance of players throughout the last season. That is, the magazine France Football, organizer of the award, takes into account the period from August 1, 2025 to July 31, 2026, meaning it includes up to the 2026 World Cup.

To find out who will succeed Ousmane Dembélé, the winner of the 2025 edition, and the rest of the winners, we will have to wait until Monday, October 26, when the award ceremony will take place at the The London Palladium in London, England. Therefore, there will be almost seven weeks of speculation regarding who will take home this year's BdO.

In this edition, Argentina will have three representatives among the various individual awards. Lionel Messi (Inter Miami) and Lautaro Martínez (Inter Milan) are nominated for the Men's Ballon d'Or, while Emiliano "Dibu" Martínez (Aston Villa - Chelsea) is among the candidates for the Yashin Trophy, which recognizes the best goalkeeper of the year.

The 30 nominees for the Men's Ballon d'Or

• Jude Bellingham (England / Real Madrid)

• Pau Cubarsí (Spain / Barcelona)

• Marc Cucurella (Spain / Chelsea - Real Madrid)

• Ousmane Dembélé (France / Paris Saint-Germain)

• Luis Díaz (Colombia / Bayern Munich)

• Bruno Fernandes (Portugal / Manchester United)

• Gabriel Magalhães (Brazil / Arsenal)

• Erling Haaland (Norway / Manchester City)

• Achraf Hakimi (Morocco / Paris Saint-Germain)

• Harry Kane (England / Bayern Munich)

• Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (Georgia / Paris Saint-Germain)

• Lamine Yamal (Spain / Barcelona)

• Sadio Mané (Senegal / Al-Nassr)

• Marquinhos (Brazil / Paris Saint-Germain)

• Lautaro Martínez (Argentina / Inter Milan)

• Kylian Mbappé (France / Real Madrid)

• Nuno Mendes (Portugal / Paris Saint-Germain)

• Lionel Messi (Argentina / Inter Miami)

• João Neves (Portugal / Paris Saint-Germain)

• Michael Olise (France / Bayern Munich)

• William Pacho (Ecuador / Paris Saint-Germain)

• Julián Quiñones (Mexico / Al-Qadsiah)

• Declan Rice (England / Arsenal)

• Rodri (Spain / Manchester City - Barcelona)

• Fabián Ruiz (Spain / Paris Saint-Germain)

• William Saliba (France / Arsenal)

• Ferran Torres (Spain / Barcelona - Paris Saint-Germain)

• Dayot Upamecano (France / Bayern Munich)

• Vinícius Júnior (Brazil / Real Madrid)

• Vitinha (Portugal / Paris Saint-Germain)

The 30 nominees for the Women's Ballon d'Or

• Selma Bacha (France / Olympique Lyon)

• Barbra Banda (Zambia / Orlando Pride)

• Klara Bühl (Germany / Bayern Munich)

• Esmee Brugts (Netherlands / Barcelona)

• Mariona Caldentey (Spain / Arsenal)

• Scarlett Camberos (Mexico / Club América)

• Kerstin Casparij (Netherlands / Manchester City)

• Temwa Chawinga (Malawi / Kansas City Current)

• Cata Coll (Spain / Barcelona)

• Melchie Dumornay (Haiti / Olympique Lyon)

• Caroline Graham Hansen (Norway / Barcelona)

• Alex Greenwood (England / Manchester City)

• Patri Guijarro (Spain / Barcelona)

• Pernille Harder (Denmark / Bayern Munich)

• Yui Hasegawa (Japan / Manchester City)

• Rose Lavelle (United States / Gotham FC)

• Mapi León (Spain / Barcelona - London City Lionesses)

• Lorena (Brazil / Kansas City Current)

• Melvine Malard (France / Manchester United - Chelsea)

• Manaka Matsukubo (Japan / North Carolina Courage - Chelsea)

• Vivianne Miedema (Netherlands / Manchester City)

• Ewa Pajor (Poland / Barcelona)

• Claudia Pina (Spain / Barcelona)

Kopa Trophy (best young player)

• Kerim Alajbegović (Red Bull Salzburg / Juventus)

• Ayyoub Bouaddi (Morocco / Lille - Manchester City)

• Pau Cubarsí (Spain / Barcelona)

• Yan Diomandé (Ivory Coast / RB Leipzig - Real Madrid)

• Lennart Karl (Germany / Bayern Munich)

• Éli Junior Kroupi (France / Bournemouth)

• Lamine Yamal (Spain / Barcelona)

• Johan Manzambi (Switzerland / Freiburg - Aston Villa)

• Ibrahim Maza (Algeria / Bayer Leverkusen)

• Warren Zaïre-Emery (France / Paris Saint-Germain)

Kopa Trophy (best young female player)

• Veerle Buurman (Netherlands / Chelsea)

• Vicky López (Spain / Barcelona)

• Felicia Schröder (Sweden / BK Häcken - Real Madrid)

• Clara Serrajordi (Spain / Barcelona)

• Lily Yohannes (United States / Olympique Lyon)

Yashin Trophy (best goalkeeper)

• Yassine Bounou (Morocco / Al-Hilal)

• Thibaut Courtois (Belgium / Real Madrid)

• Joan García (Spain / Barcelona)

• Gregor Kobel (Switzerland / Borussia Dortmund)

• Emiliano Martínez (Argentina / Aston Villa - Chelsea)

• Édouard Mendy (Senegal / Al-Ahli)

• David Raya (Spain / Arsenal)

• Matvey Safonov (Russia / Paris Saint-Germain)

• Unai Simón (Spain / Athletic Bilbao)

• Vozinha (Cape Verde / GD Chaves - Colo-Colo)

Yashin Trophy (best female goalkeeper)

• Ann-Katrin Berger (Germany / Gotham FC)

• Cata Coll (Spain / Barcelona)

• Hannah Hampton (England / Chelsea)

• Lorena (Brazil / Kansas City Current)

• Ayaka Yamashita (Japan / Manchester City)

Johan Cruyff Trophy (best men's coach of the year)

• Mikel Arteta (Spain / Arsenal)

• Luis de la Fuente (Spain / Spain National Team)

• Unai Emery (Spain / Aston Villa)

• Vincent Kompany (England / Bayern Munich)

• Luis Enrique (Spain / Paris Saint-Germain)

Johan Cruyff Trophy (best women's coach of the year)

• Jonatan Giráldez (Spain / Olympique Lyon)

• Andrée Jeglertz (Sweden / Manchester City)

• Nils Nielsen (Denmark / Japan Women's National Team)

• Pere Romeu (Spain / Barcelona)

• Elena Sadiku (Sweden / Celtic - BK Häcken)

Clubs nominated for Team of the Year (men's)

• Arsenal (England)

• Bayern Munich (Germany)

• Bodø/Glimt (Norway)

• Flamengo (Brazil)

• Paris Saint-Germain (France)

Clubs nominated for Team of the Year (women's)

• Barcelona (Spain)

• Bayern Munich (Germany)

• Club América (Mexico)

• Manchester City (England)

• Olympique Lyon (France)