The nominees for the 2026 Ballon d'Or were revealed Tuesday. The shortlists for the men's and women's awards feature 30 players each.
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Men's Ballon d'Or | Women's Ballon d'Or | Young Talent | Goalkeeper | Coach | Best Club
Spanish World Cup winners Rodri and Lamine Yamal headline the contenders for the men's honor, though Kylian Mbappe is a strong candidate after his record-breaking performance at the 2026 World Cup for France.
England striker Harry Kane is also in contention after his prolific scoring season with Bayern Munich, while eight-time Ballon d'Or winner Lionel Messi is back on the shortlist this year after missing out in 2025.
On the women's side, Spanish star Aitana Bonmati wasn't nominated after an injury-marred year, ending her run of three consecutive triumphs and ensuring there will be a different winner for the first time since 2022. Alexia Putellas, her compatriot and former Barcelona teammate, is a strong contender to take home the award for the third time in her glittering career.
This year's Ballon d'Or ceremony will take place in London on Monday, Oct. 26, when the award winners will be crowned.
Ballon d'Or nominees - Men
| Player | Club |
|---|---|
| Jude Bellingham ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฅ๓ ฎ๓ ง๓ ฟ | Real Madrid |
| Pau Cubarsi ๐ช๐ธ | Barcelona |
| Marc Cucurella ๐ช๐ธ | Real Madrid |
| Ousmane Dembele ๐ซ๐ท | PSG |
| Luis Diaz ๐จ๐ด | Bayern Munich |
| Bruno Fernandes ๐ต๐น | Manchester United |
| Gabriel ๐ง๐ท | Arsenal |
| Erling Haaland ๐ณ๐ด | Manchester City |
| Achraf Hakimi ๐ฒ๐ฆ | PSG |
| Harry Kane ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฅ๓ ฎ๓ ง๓ ฟ | Bayern Munich |
| Khvicha Kvaratskhelia ๐ฌ๐ช | PSG |
| Lamine Yamal ๐ช๐ธ | Barcelona |
| Sadio Mane ๐ธ๐ณ | Al-Nassr |
| Marquinhos ๐ง๐ท | PSG |
| Lautaro Martinez ๐ฆ๐ท | Inter Milan |
| Kylian Mbappe ๐ซ๐ท | Real Madrid |
| Nuno Mendes ๐ต๐น | PSG |
| Lionel Messi ๐ฆ๐ท | Inter Miami |
| Joao Neves ๐ต๐น | PSG |
| Michael Olise ๐ซ๐ท | Bayern Munich |
| Willian Pacho ๐ช๐จ | PSG |
| Julian Quinones ๐ฒ๐ฝ | Al-Qadsiah |
| Declan Rice ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฅ๓ ฎ๓ ง๓ ฟ | Arsenal |
| Rodri ๐ช๐ธ | Barcelona |
| Fabian Ruiz ๐ช๐ธ | PSG |
| William Saliba ๐ซ๐ท | Arsenal |
| Ferran Torres ๐ช๐ธ | PSG |
| Dayot Upamecano ๐ซ๐ท | Bayern Munich |
| Vinicius Junior ๐ง๐ท | Real Madrid |
| Vitinha ๐ต๐น | PSG |
2025 winner: Ousmane Dembele
Ballon d'Or nominees - Women
| Player | Club |
|---|---|
| Selma Bacha ๐ซ๐ท | OL Lyonnes |
| Barbra Banda ๐ฟ๐ฒ | Orlando Pride |
| Esmee Brugts ๐ณ๐ฑ | Barcelona |
| Klara Buhl ๐ฉ๐ช | Bayern Munich |
| Mariona Caldentey ๐ช๐ธ | Arsenal |
| Scarlett Camberos ๐ฒ๐ฝ | Club America |
| Kerstin Casparij ๐ณ๐ฑ | Manchester City |
| Temwa Chawinga ๐ฒ๐ผ | Kansas City Current |
| Cata Coll ๐ช๐ธ | Barcelona |
| Melchie Dumornay ๐ญ๐น | OL Lyonnes |
| Alex Greenwood ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฅ๓ ฎ๓ ง๓ ฟ | Manchester City |
| Patri Guijarroย ๐ช๐ธ | Barcelona |
| Caroline Graham Hansen ๐ณ๐ด | Barcelona |
| Pernille Harder ๐ฉ๐ฐ | Bayern Munich |
| Yui Hasegawa ๐ฏ๐ต | Manchester City |
| Rose Lavelle ๐บ๐ธ | Gotham FC |
| Mapi Leon ๐ช๐ธ | London City Lionesses |
| Lorena ๐ง๐ท | Kansas City Current |
| Melvine Malard ๐ซ๐ท | Chelsea |
| Manaka Matsukubo ๐ฏ๐ต | Chelsea |
| Vivianne Miedema ๐ณ๐ฑ | Manchester City |
| Ewa Pajor ๐ต๐ฑ | Barcelona |
| Claudia Pina ๐ช๐ธ | Barcelona |
| Alexia Putellas ๐ช๐ธ | London City Lionesses |
| Wendie Renard ๐ซ๐ท | OL Lyonnes |
| Alessia Russo ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฅ๓ ฎ๓ ง๓ ฟ | Arsenal |
| Khadija Shaw ๐ฏ๐ฒ | Manchester City |
| Momoko Tanikawa ๐ฏ๐ต | Bayern Munich |
| Caroline Weir ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ณ๓ ฃ๓ ด๓ ฟ | OL Lyonnes |
| Tessa Wullaert ๐ง๐ช | Como |
2025 winner: Aitana Bonmati
Young Talent of the Year
Men's nominees
| Player | Club |
|---|---|
| Kerim Alajbegovic ๐ง๐ฆ | Juventus |
| Ayyoub Bouaddi ๐ฒ๐ฆ | Manchester City |
| Pau Cubarsi ๐ช๐ธ | Barcelona |
| Yan Diomande ๐จ๐ฎ | Real Madrid |
| Lennart Karl ๐ฉ๐ช | Bayern Munich |
| Eli Junior Kroupi ๐ซ๐ท | Bournemouth |
| Lamine Yamal ๐ช๐ธ | Barcelona |
| Johan Manzambi ๐จ๐ญ | Aston Villa |
| Ibrahim Maza ๐ฉ๐ฟ | Bayer Leverkusen |
| Warren Zaire-Emery ๐ซ๐ท | PSG |
2025 winner: Lamine Yamal
Women's nominees
| Player | Club |
|---|---|
| Veerle Buurman ๐ณ๐ฑ | Chelsea |
| Vicky Lopez ๐ช๐ธ | Barcelona |
| Felicia Schroder ๐ธ๐ช | Real Madrid |
| Clara Serrajordi ๐ช๐ธ | Barcelona |
| Lily Yohannes ๐บ๐ธ | OL Lyonnes |
2025 winner: Vicky Lopez
Goalkeeper of the Year
Men's nominees
| Player | Club |
|---|---|
| Yassine Bounou ๐ฒ๐ฆ | Al-Hilal |
| Thibaut Courtois ๐ง๐ช | Real Madrid |
| Gregor Kobel ๐จ๐ญ | Borussia Dortmund |
| Joan Garcia ๐ช๐ธ | Barcelona |
| Edouard Mendy ๐ธ๐ณ | Al-Ahli |
| Emiliano Martinez ๐ฆ๐ท | Chelsea |
| David Raya ๐ช๐ธ | Arsenal |
| Matvey Safonov ๐ท๐บ | PSG |
| Unai Simon ๐ช๐ธ | Athletic Club |
| Vozinha ๐จ๐ป | Colo-Colo |
2025 winner: Gianluigi Donnarumma
Women's nominees
| Player | Club |
|---|---|
| Ann-Katrin Berger ๐ฉ๐ช | Gotham FC |
| Cata Coll ๐ช๐ธ | Barcelona |
| Hannah Hampton ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฅ๓ ฎ๓ ง๓ ฟ | Chelsea |
| Lorena ๐ง๐ท | Kansas City Current |
| Ayaka Yamashita ๐ฏ๐ต | Manchester City |
2025 winner: Hannah Hampton
Coach of the Year
Men's nominees
| Coach | Team |
|---|---|
| Mikel Arteta | Arsenal |
| Luis de la Fuente | Spain |
| Unai Emery | Aston Villa |
| Vincent Kompany | Bayern Munich |
| Luis Enrique | PSG |
2025 winner: Luis Enrique
Women's nominees
This category recognizes the best coaches in the women's game, rather than just the best female tacticians. Elena Sadiku is the lone female coach among the five contenders.
| Coach | Team(s) |
|---|---|
| Jonatan Giraldez | OL Lyonnes |
| Andree Jeglertz | Manchester City |
| Nils Nielsen | Japan |
| Pere Romeu | Barcelona |
| Elena Sadiku | Celtic & BK Hacken |
2025 winner: Sarina Wiegman
Club of the Year
Men's clubs
- Arsenal
- Bayern Munich
- Bodo/Glimt
- Flamengo
- Paris Saint-Germain
Women's clubs
- Barcelona
- Bayern Munich
- Club America
- Manchester City
- OL Lyonnes
Last year's winners in this category were PSG (men) and Arsenal (women).
