Ballon d'Or 2026 prediction: favourites, time and nominees
The 70th Ballon d'Or will be presented on Monday 26 October 2026 at the London Palladium, the first ceremony held outside Paris. 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.
What time is the Ballon d'Or 2026?
The ceremony starts at 20:00 GMT, according to UEFA's ticketing help page.
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.
| City | Start time |
|---|---|
| London, Lisbon, Accra, Dakar, Casablanca | Mon 20:00 |
| Paris, Madrid, Berlin, Lagos | Mon 21:00 |
| Johannesburg | Mon 22:00 |
| Cairo, Istanbul, Riyadh, Doha, Nairobi | Mon 23:00 |
| Dubai | Tue 00:00 |
| Karachi | Tue 01:00 |
| New Delhi, Mumbai | Tue 01:30 |
| Dhaka | Tue 02:00 |
| Jakarta | Tue 03:00 |
| Kuala Lumpur, Singapore | Tue 04:00 |
| São Paulo, Buenos Aires | Mon 17:00 |
| New York, Toronto | Mon 16:00 |
| Mexico City | Mon 14:00 |
| Los Angeles | Mon 13:00 |
ESPN reports that the ceremony will stream on the official site, ballondor.com, and be shown free worldwide on DAZN.
How the vote works
One journalist from each of the top 100 countries in FIFA's men's ranking ranks ten of the 30 nominees. First place gets 15 points, then 12, 10, 8, 7, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1. They judge individual performance first, then team results, then class and fair play. Only matches from 3 August 2025 to 19 July 2026, the day of the World Cup final, count (beIN SPORTS, ESPN).
The favourites, and the case against each
- Harry Kane (Bayern Munich, England): 73 goals for club and country, the most of anyone last season, and a Bundesliga and German Cup double. GOAL's power ranking puts him first. Against him: no Champions League or World Cup, after semi-final exits in both.
- Lamine Yamal (Barcelona, Spain): won the World Cup and La Liga, and was runner-up last year. At 19 he would be the youngest winner ever. Against him: injuries ended his club season early, and team-mates took the World Cup's individual awards.
- Rodri (Manchester City, now Barcelona; Spain): Spain's captain won the Golden Ball as the World Cup's best player. Against him: a patchy club season after a serious knee injury.
- Kylian Mbappé (Real Madrid, France): ten goals and the Golden Boot at the World Cup, and now 22 World Cup goals in all, a record (Al Jazeera). Against him: neither Real Madrid nor France won a trophy.
- Lionel Messi (Inter Miami, Argentina): the MLS Cup, then eight goals and the Silver Ball at the World Cup. Against him: Argentina lost the final, and MLS is not the Champions League.
Also in the running for votes: Michael Olise and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, holder Ousmane Dembélé, Vitinha, Morocco's Achraf Hakimi and Erling Haaland.
Our prediction
This is our guess, not inside information. We expect Harry Kane to win narrowly. Voters are asked to judge individual performance first, and no one came close to his 73 goals. Spain's World Cup winners Yamal and Rodri are likely to split the votes that go to Spanish players. Our podium: 1. Kane, 2. Yamal, 3. Rodri.
All 30 nominees
This is the official shortlist, announced on 8 September. Clubs are from the 2025-26 season.
| Player | Country | Club |
|---|---|---|
| Jude Bellingham | England | Real Madrid |
| Pau Cubarsí | Spain | Barcelona |
| Marc Cucurella | Spain | Chelsea |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| Willian Pacho | Ecuador | Paris Saint-Germain |
| Julián Quiñones | Mexico | Al Qadsiah |
| Declan Rice | England | Arsenal |
| Rodri | Spain | Manchester City |
| Fabián Ruiz | Spain | Paris Saint-Germain |
| William Saliba | France | Arsenal |
| Ferran Torres | Spain | Barcelona |
| Dayot Upamecano | France | Bayern Munich |
| Vinícius Júnior | Brazil | Real Madrid |
| Vitinha | Portugal | Paris Saint-Germain |
Last year Ousmane Dembélé won, ahead of Lamine Yamal and Vitinha. Messi holds the record with eight wins. We will add the full ranking here after the ceremony.
