Ballon d’Or 2026 nominees revealed: PSG stars dominate list
The nominees for the Ballon d’Or 2026 awards have been revealed by France Football ahead of next month’s ceremony.
A third of the 30 players nominated for the men’s Ballon d’Or come from Paris Saint-Germain, who won the UEFA Champions League for a second consecutive season back in May.
Ousmane Dembele is looking to retain the trophy that he picked up last year, but faces stiff competition from teammates such as Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Vitinha, Marquinhos and Nuno Mendes.
Six members of Spain’s FIFA World Cup-winning squad have also received nominations, with Rodri and Lamine Yamal among the favourites to win the award.
England captain Harry Kane is being widely tipped to take home the golden ball after a sensational campaign in which he scored 73 goals for club and country. Although the Bayern Munich striker did not win either the World Cup or Champions League, he should rank highly due to the PSG and Spain votes being split among multiple players.
Fellow Three Lions stars Jude Bellingham and Declan Rice are also in contention for the Ballon d’Or, as are Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes, Arsenal duo Gabriel Magalhães and William Saliba, and Erling Haaland of Manchester City.
Lionel Messi has also been nominated after leading Argentina to the World Cup final.
The Ballon d’Or awards ceremony will take place on 26th October in London.
Ballon d’Or 2026 nominees
Men’s Ballon d’Or:
Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid)
Pau Cubarsi (Barcelona)
Marc Cucurella (Real Madrid)
Ousmane Dembele (PSG)
Luis Diaz (Bayern Munich)
Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United)
Erling Haaland (Manchester City)
Gabriel Magalhães (Arsenal)
Harry Kane (Bayern Munich)
Achraf Hakimi (PSG)
Lamine Yamal (Barcelona)
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (PSG)
Marquinhos (PSG)
Sadio Mane (Al Nassr)
Lautaro Martinez (Inter)
Kylian Mbappe (Real Madrid)
Nuno Mendes (PSG)
Lionel Messi (Inter Miami)
Michael Olise (Bayern Munich)
Joao Neves (PSG)
William Pacho (PSG)
Julian Quinones (Al Quadisa)
Declan Rice (Arsenal)
Rodri (Barcelona)
Ferran Torres (PSG)
Fabian Ruiz (PSG)
William Saliba (Arsenal)
Dayot Upamecano (Bayern Munich)
Vinicius Jnr (Real Madrid)
Vitinha (PSG)
Women’s Ballon d’Or:
Esmee Brugts (Barcelona)
Klara Buhl (Bayern Women)
Mariona Caldentey (Arsenal)
Barbra Banda (Orlando Pride)
Selma Bacha (Lyon)
Scarlett Camberos (Club America)
Temwa Chawinga (Kansas City Current)
Kerstin Casparij (Manchester City)
Cata Coll (Barcelona)
Corventina Dumornay (Lyon)
Caroline Graham Hansen (Barcelona)
Alex Greenwood (Manchester City)
Patri Guijarro (Barcelona)
Pernille Harder (Bayern Munich)
Yui Hasegawa (Manchester City)
Rose Lavelle (FC Gotham)
Mapi Leon (Barcelona)
Lorena Leite (Kansas City Current)
Manaka Matsukobo (Chelsea)
Melvine Malard (Manchester Utd)
Ewa Pajor (Barcelona)
Vivianne Miedema (Manchester City)
Alexia Putellas (London City Lionesses)
Claudia Pina (Barcelona)
Wendie Renard (Lyon)
Alessia Russo (Arsenal)
Momoko Tanikawa (Bayern Munich)
Khadija Shaw (Manchester City)
Tessa Wullaert (Como)
Caroline Weir (Real Madrid)
Men’s Young Talent of the Year:
Kerim Alajbegovic – RB Salzburg/Juventus/Bosnia & Herzegovina
Ayyoub Bouaddi – Lille/Manchester City/Morocco
Pau Cubarsi – Barcelona/Spain
Yan Diomande – RB Leizig/Real Madrid/Ivory Coast
Lennart Karl – Bayern Munich/Germany
Eli Junior Kroupi – Bournemouth/France
Johan Manzambi – Freiburg/Aston Villa/Switzerland
Lamine Yamal – Barcelona/Spain
Ibrahim Maza – Bayer Leverkusen/Algeria
Warren Zaire-Emery – PSG/France
Women’s Young Talent of the Year:
Veerle Buurman – Chelsea/Netherlands
Vicky Lopez – Barcelona/Spain
Felicia Schroder Real Madrid/BK Hacken/Sweden
Clara Serrajordi – Barcelona/Spain
Lily Yohannes – Lyon/USA
Men’s Goalkeeper of the Year:
Yassine Bounou – Al Hilal and Morocco
Thibaut Courtois – Real Madrid and Belgium
Gregor Kobel – Borussia Dortmund and Switerland
Joan Garcia – Barcelona and Spain
Edouard Mendy – Al-Ahli and Senegal
Emi Martinez – Aston Villa/Chelsea and Argentina
David Raya – Arsenal and Spain
Vozinha – GD Chaves/Colo-Colo and Cape Verde
Unai Simon – Athletic Bilbao and Spain
Matvey Safonov – PSG and Russia
Women’s Goalkeeper of the Year:
Ann-Katrin Berger – Gotham FC/Germany
Cata Coll – Barcelona/Spain
Hannah Hampton – Chelsea/England
Lorena – Kansas City/Brazil
Ayaka Yamashita – Manchester City/Japan
Men’s Coach of the Year:
Mikel Arteta – Arsenal
Luis De La Fuente – Spain
Unai Emery – Aston Villa
Vincent Kompany – Bayern Munich
Luis Enrique – PSG
Women’s Coach of the Year:
Jonatan Giraldez – Lyon
Andree Jeglertz – Man City
Nils Nielsen – most recently Japan
Pere Romeu – FCB
Elena Sadiku – Celtic/BK Hacken
Men’s Club of the Year:
Arsenal
Bayern Munich
Bodo/Glimt
Flamengo
PSG
Women’s Club of the Year:
Barcelona
Bayern Munich
Club America
Man City
OL Lyonnes
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