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Ballon d'Or LIVE: Updates as full list of nominated players to be confirmed
Sep 08 2026 10:51 · By Kieran King,Senior Sports Writer,and,Matthew Abbott,Sports Writer · 31 Reads
The nominees for the 2026 Ballon d'Or will be released this morning.
England forward Harry Kane is the bookmakers' favourite to win the prestigious award following a prolific season for Bayern Munich. However, history suggests that football's biggest individual prize rarely gets decided by goals alone.
After the Ballon d'Or was first awarded in 1956, performances in the biggest competitions have shaped the outcome. World Cup years, in particular, have followed a clear pattern and it has been shown just how difficult it is to win the award without lifting a major continental or global tournament.
With that in mind, Spain are expected to have several players feature among the 30 nominees after they triumphed at the World Cup in North America. Argentina ran them close, while England and France both reached the semi-final, and those three nations are poised to nave a number of players in there, too.
Jonatan Giraldez - OL Lyonnes
Andree Jeglertz - Manchester City
Nils Nielsen - Japan national team
Pere Romeu - Barcelona
Arsenal
Bayern Munich
Bodo/Glimt
Flamengo
Paris Saint-Germain!
Bodo/Glimt! Remember them?
Bayern Munich!
Barcelona
Club America
Manchester City
Manchester City!
Bayern Munich Frauen!
Barcelona Femeni are the first nominee announced.
Kylian Mbappe has admitted he would vote for himself if he was able to pick a winner for this year's Ballon d'Or.
Speaking to L'Equipe, he explained: "Who’d I vote for the Ballon d’Or? I’d vote for me. It is an individual award. We look at what the player has done individually.
It is incredible that English football has not had a Ballon D’Or winner in 25 years. But the long wait has to end because there can be no more deserving winner than Harry Kane.
For Kane to score 73 goals for club and country across a single season is an astonishing achievement. Yes, in a World Cup year, the winner normally comes from the team which lifts the World Cup.
But, in my view, Kane presents a more compelling case as an individual ahead of even Spain’s squad of World Cup winners. Rodri was Spain’s most important player in the tournament and, over the course of 12 months, Kane has done more.
Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes will feature on the list of 30 nominees for the men's Ballon d'Or, it has been reported.
The Portugal international broke the Premier League assist record last season, creating 21 goals over the course of the campaign.
Ousmane Dembele will be hoping to win the Ballon d'Or for the second time after landing the prestigious prize in 2025.
It came after he helped Paris Saint-Germain to Champions League glory for the first time in their history.
A panel of international journalists assembled by France Football decide the 30 finalists for the men's Ballon d'Or and the Yashin Award shortlist for the world's best goalkeeper.
The voting process was altered in 2022 to include a media member from each of the top 100 nations in the FIFA men's world ranking (for the men's Ballon d'Or voting) and from the top 50 nations in the FIFA women's world ranking (for the women's Ballon d'Or vote).
The nominees up for the 2026 Ballon d'Or will be announced by France Football on Tuesday, September 8, between 10am and 3pm (UK time).
Hello and welcome to our live Ballon d'Or nominees blog on this fine Tuesday morning.