Ballon d'Or 2026: winners to be revealed in London on Oct 26; Yamal, Mbappé and Kane lead men's shortlist
Lamine Yamal, Kylian Mbappé and Harry Kane head the list of contenders as France Football will announce the 2026 Ballon d'Or winners at the London Palladium on Monday, October 26, with the ceremony scheduled to start at 8 pm GMT; the women's prize is contested without three-time defending champion Aitana Bonmati, who is absent after breaking her leg in December.
The awards ceremony marks the 70th anniversary of the Ballon d'Or, first presented by France Football in 1956, and will be staged in London for the first time — the first occasion outside France since 2015; the women's Ballon d'Or was introduced in 2018. For viewers in India the event is set to begin at 1.30 am IST on Tuesday, October 27. Organisers have set the judging period from August 3, 2025, to July 19, 2026, meaning performances after that window are excluded from consideration.
On the men's side, Lamine Yamal is bidding for his first senior Ballon d'Or after winning the Kopa Trophy for the best young player in each of the past two years, with performances for Barcelona and Spain cited in his credentials. Kylian Mbappé remains a leading candidate following another strong individual season; the France captain, who won the 2018 World Cup at 19, finished seventh in last year's Ballon d'Or voting. Ousmane Dembélé was the 2025 winner, and sources note that a lack of major team trophies during the eligibility period could be a factor against some nominees.
Harry Kane's case is built on goalscoring and club success with Bayern Munich; the England captain became the fastest player to reach 100 Bundesliga goals, achieving the mark in 98 appearances. The awards' eligibility window means Kane's accomplishments up to July 19, 2026, are counted but his goalscoring form at the start of the 2026–27 season does not factor into this year's voting.
Alexia Putellas is listed among the favourites for the women's Ballon d'Or after helping her club win the Champions League and the Spanish league title before joining London City Lionesses. With Aitana Bonmati absent from the shortlist due to her December injury, the tournament will produce a new women's winner; Manchester City's Khadija Shaw and Barcelona's Claudia Pina are also named as leading contenders.
The Ballon d'Or is decided by one journalist from each of FIFA's top 100-ranked nations, who each rank 10 players from a 30-player shortlist. The voting criteria include individual performances, team achievements, decisive and impressive character, and class and fair play; first-place votes receive 15 points and tenth-place votes receive one point, with ties resolved by comparing the number of first-place votes, then second-place votes and so on. The ceremony will also present the Kopa Trophy (best young player), the Yashin Trophy (best goalkeeper), the Johan Cruyff Trophy (best coach), Club of the Year awards in both categories, the Gerd Müller Trophy for leading goalscorers, and the Socrates Award for humanitarian contributions.
The Ballon d'Or winners will be revealed at the London Palladium on Monday, October 26 at 8 pm GMT; the ceremony is expected to be livestreamed on DAZN according to search results, though official broadcast arrangements for India have not been confirmed and viewers there are advised to check the official Ballon d'Or and DAZN platforms for updates.