Enzo Maresca Discusses Lack of Manchester City Representation in 2026 Men's Ballon d'Or Shortlist
Enzo Maresca has shared his thoughts on the lack of Manchester City players who were on the 30-player shortlist for the 2026 Men’s Ballon d’Or award on Monday night.
Erling Haaland was ranked 8th in the 2026 Men's Ballon d'Or rankings.
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Erling Haaland was the only Manchester City player on the list despite a positive final campaign under Pep Guardiola, where the club won the FA Cup and Carabao Cup.
Harry Kane ultimately won the award, crowning him the first English player since Michael Owen in 2001 to claim the prize for the world’s best player during the previous season.
The 33-year-old Bayern Munich striker is the fifth Englishman to win in total, with Sir Stanley Matthews, Bobby Charlton and two-time winner Kevin Keegan as the others.
Though the coveted award doesn’t come down to statistics alone, Kane managed to attract plenty of backing for the award with 61 goals in 51 appearances for Bayern, who lifted their 35th Bundesliga title; the forward scored 73 goals for club and country last season.
His nearest competitors were Real Madrid star Kylian Mbappe and Barcelona winger Lamine Yamal, who won the Men’s Young Talent award for the third year in a row.
Hopefully we can bring more players into the top 10, says Maresca
Speaking ahead of his side’s Carabao Cup fourth-round tie against Brighton and Hove Albion on Wednesday, Maresca revealed what he thinks about City’s lack of Ballon d’Or involvement and perhaps what his side can do to have more names on the shortlist in the future.
“We give credit to our players and recognise that, but again, this kind of reward most of the time is a consequence of the club, like PSG in the last two years. But hopefully, next season we can bring more players into the top 10,” the Manchester City manager said.
City had two representatives across individual awards during the evening, and aside from Haaland’s aforementioned nomination, Ayyoub Bouaddi was the second player, having been on the shortlist for the Young Talent of the Year award.
The Men’s Ballon d’Or award began in 1956, and Rodri has since been the only City player to win it, in 2024, after his remarkable contribution to City’s 2023 Treble.
Man City Women set example and provide motivation for men’s side after several nominations
On the other hand, Manchester City Women have frequently appeared for several awards since the Ballon d’Or Féminin was introduced in 2018.
For the Women’s Ballon d’Or, Kerstin Casparij, Alex Greenwood, Khadija Shaw, Vivianne Miedema and Yui Hasegawa were all nominated, whereas Ayaka Yamashita was shortlisted for the Women’s Goalkeeper of the Year award.
Andree Jeglertz, the City Women manager, was also nominated for the Women’s Head Coach of the Year award, with his side put up for the Women’s Club of the Year award too.
Aside from Rodri’s success in the 2024 edition of the trophy, the closest Manchester City have come to having another player win it was Haaland in 2023, when he finished second behind Lionel Messi.