SALZBURG, AUSTRIA - AUGUST 11: Ousmane Dembele, Willian Pacho and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia of Paris Saint-Germain react during a Paris Saint-Germain Training Session prior to the UEFA Super Cup 2026 at Stadion Salzburg on August 11, 2026 in Salzburg, Austria. (Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)
Paris Saint-Germain became the first club to have nine players nominated for the Ballon d’Or in back-to-back years.
The nominees for the Ballon d’Or, which will be awarded in Paris on 26th October, were revealed on Tuesday. Of the 30, nine are PSG players, as was the case last season. It coincides with Les Parisiens winning the UEFA Champions League in back-to-back seasons.
Achraf Hakimi, Nuno Mendes, Vitinha, João Neves, Fabián Ruiz, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Willian Pacho, Marquinhos, and Ousmane Dembélé, the winner of the prestigious trophy, awarded by France Football, were all nominated this time around. There were a couple of surprising absences in the form of Bradley Barcola, who traded the Parc des Princes for Liverpool earlier in the summer, and Désiré Doué, a regular for PSG but omitted from the star-studded list.
With nine nominees, the reigning European champions are by far the most represented; Bayern Munich come closest with just four nominees. Real Madrid have once had nine nominees in a single edition of the Ballon d’Or, but no club has ever done what PSG have in seeing nine of their players nominated in consecutive editions.