Ballon d'Or 2026 predictor: rank your top 10 and share it

Sports · By SpikeToday · Sep 27, 2026, 15:43 UTC

The 70th Ballon d'Or is presented on Monday 26 October in London, and 100 journalists pick the winner by ranking ten of the 30 nominees. Fill in the same ballot, then send it to the friend who thinks you have it all wrong.

This year there is no clear favourite. Harry Kane scored 73 goals. Rodri was named best player of the World Cup that Spain won, and Kylian Mbappé finished as its top scorer. Lamine Yamal, 19, won La Liga and the World Cup, and Lionel Messi reached the World Cup final at 39. The ceremony at the London Palladium is the first held outside Paris.

What time is the Ballon d'Or 2026?

The ceremony starts at 20:00 GMT on Monday 26 October, according to UEFA's ticketing help page. That is 16:00 in New York, 21:00 in Paris and Lagos, 23:00 in Riyadh, and 01:30 on Tuesday in New Delhi.

One detail catches people out. The UK puts its clocks back an hour on Sunday 25 October, the day before, so 20:00 in London that evening is 20:00 GMT, not summer time. Some previews give the start as 3 p.m. Eastern, which assumes summer time. US clocks don't change until 1 November, so the start is 4 p.m. Eastern.

Where to watch

ESPN reports that the ceremony will stream on the official site, ballondor.com, and be shown free worldwide on DAZN. Local TV channels may add their own coverage.

How the real vote works

• Who votes: 100 football journalists, one from each of the top 100 countries in FIFA's men's ranking. The women's award has 50 voters.
• What they fill in: ten names out of the 30 nominees, in order. First place gets 15 points, then 12, 10, 8, 7, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1.
• What they judge: individual performance first, then team results, then class and fair play.
• What counts: matches from 3 August 2025 to 19 July 2026, the day of the World Cup final.
• Ties: the player with more first-place votes wins, then more second places, and so on.

Sources: beIN SPORTS and ESPN.

The contenders, and the case against each

These names lead most published power rankings, such as GOAL's. Each has a strong case and a clear weak spot.

Harry Kane (Bayern Munich, England)

For: 73 goals for club and country, the most of anyone last season, plus the Bundesliga and German Cup double. GOAL ranks him first. Against: Bayern went out in the Champions League semi-finals and England lost their World Cup semi-final, so he won no major tournament.

Lamine Yamal (Barcelona, Spain)

For: he won the World Cup and La Liga, and he was runner-up last year. At 19 he would be the youngest winner in the award's history. Against: injuries ended his club season early, and it was team-mates Rodri and Pau Cubarsí who took the World Cup's individual awards.

Kylian Mbappé (Real Madrid, France)

For: ten goals at the World Cup, the Golden Boot, and now the most World Cup goals in history, with 22 (Al Jazeera). Against: neither Real Madrid nor France won a trophy. Planet Football counts only four winners in the previous 19 who won none of the Champions League, World Cup, Euros or Copa América that year.

Rodri (Manchester City, now Barcelona; Spain)

For: Spain's captain won the Golden Ball as the World Cup's best player, running the midfield in all eight games. He already won the Ballon d'Or in 2024. Against: his first club season back from a serious knee injury was patchy, with the FA Cup and League Cup to show for it.

Lionel Messi (Inter Miami, Argentina)

For: eight goals and four assists at the World Cup, the Silver Ball, and the MLS Cup with Inter Miami. He has won the award a record eight times. Against: Argentina lost the final, and MLS is not the Champions League.

Michael Olise (Bayern Munich, France)

For: 41 assists across the season by GOAL's count, seven of them at the World Cup, plus the Bundesliga and German Cup. Against: he splits the Bayern vote with Kane, and France went out in the semi-finals.

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (Paris Saint-Germain, Georgia)

For: the star of PSG's second Champions League win in a row. GOAL says he was the first player to score or assist in seven straight knockout games in the competition. Against: Georgia did not qualify for the World Cup, so he had no summer stage.

Ousmane Dembélé (Paris Saint-Germain, France)

For: the holder scored PSG's equaliser from the spot in the Champions League final, which PSG won on penalties against Arsenal, then scored six goals at the World Cup. Against: injuries cost him much of the first half of the season.

Other names likely to collect top-ten votes: Vitinha, player of the match in the Champions League final; Morocco's Achraf Hakimi; Erling Haaland; and Pau Cubarsí, the World Cup's best young player.

All 30 nominees for the 2026 Ballon d'Or

This is the official shortlist, announced on 8 September. Clubs are from the 2025-26 season, and an arrow marks a summer move. Nine nominees played for Paris Saint-Germain last season, more than for any other club. Spain lead the countries with six.

Notable players left out include Raphinha, Pedri, Désiré Doué, Julián Álvarez, Dani Olmo and Cristiano Ronaldo (Athlon Sports).

The other awards on the night

• Women's Ballon d'Or: 30 nominees. Three-time winner Aitana Bonmatí is not among them after missing most of the season with a broken leg.
• Young Talent of the Year (the Kopa Trophy, for under-21s): nominees include Lamine Yamal, Pau Cubarsí, Morocco's Ayyoub Bouaddi and Algeria's Ibrahim Maza.
• Goalkeeper of the Year (the Yashin Trophy): nominees include Morocco's Yassine Bounou, Thibaut Courtois, David Raya and World Cup winner Unai Simón.
• Striker of the Year (the Gerd Müller Trophy) goes to the season's top scorer. ESPN puts Kane in front with 73 goals.
• Coach of the Year: Mikel Arteta, Luis de la Fuente, Unai Emery, Vincent Kompany and Luis Enrique are nominated.
• Club of the Year: Arsenal, Bayern Munich, Bodø/Glimt, Flamengo and Paris Saint-Germain are nominated.
• The Sócrates Award honours a player's work for social causes.

Who won the Ballon d'Or last year?

Ousmane Dembélé won in 2025 after PSG's first Champions League title, with Lamine Yamal second and Vitinha third. Messi holds the record with eight wins.

We will add the full 1-to-30 ranking here after the ceremony. Until then, the only ballot that counts on this page is yours: fill it in.