When will the 2026 Ballon d'Or be awarded?
The 2026 Ballon d'Or ceremony will take place on Monday, October 26th at the London Palladium theatre. This special edition marks 70 years since the award was created. The first winner, in 1956, was English footballer Stanley Matthews.
The ceremony will move from Paris to the British capital for the first time. The Parisian Theatre du Chatelet has become its traditional venue in recent years, making the London debut a significant change.
Where can you watch the live broadcast?
The 2026 Ballon d'Or ceremony will begin at 21:00 CET.
It will be available to watch for free on streaming platform DAZN in the majority of countries around the world.
Those in France can view it for free via L'Equipe's TV channel, website and app, and Telefonica will be streaming it in Spain.
How is the Ballon d'Or decided?
The winners of the Ballon d'Or are decided by a panel of sports journalists.
In the men's category, journalists from the 100 highest-ranked countries in the FIFA rankings vote, while the women's category includes journalists from 50 countries. Each panel member selects 10 footballers from a list of 30 nominees and awards them points according to their ranking. The candidate with the highest points total wins.
The voting primarily assesses individual performances, followed by team achievements and trophies won. The third criterion is sporting conduct and fair play.
This year's award covers the period from the 3rd of August 2025 to the 19th of July 2026, which includes the World Cup.
Who won the 2025 Ballon d'Or?
The most recent men's Ballon d'Or winner is Ousmane Dembele of Paris Saint-Germain. The French forward received the award in 2025 after an outstanding season in which he helped the Parisian club win the Champions League.
In the voting, he finished ahead of the talented Spanish winger Lamine Yamal, who came second, and Portuguese midfielder Vitinha, who finished third.
In the women's category, Spain's Aitana Bonmati of Barcelona won in 2025. It was her third consecutive Ballon d'Or, following her triumphs in 2023 and 2024.
However, she cannot challenge for another title in 2026 because she was not included on the 30-player shortlist. The women's award will therefore have a new winner.
Who are the favourites this year?
Among the leading favourites to win the Ballon d'Or are Barcelona's Lamine Yamal, who would become the youngest winner in the award's history at 19, and Harry Kane of Bayern Munich.
The Spanish winger is benefiting from a successful season with Barcelona and a World Cup triumph, while the English striker has impressed chiefly with his outstanding goalscoring record and success with Bayern.
The top five favourites also include Kylian Mbappe of Real Madrid, Lionel Messi of Inter Miami and Rodri of Barcelona. Mbappe can draw on his goalscoring records at the World Cup, Messi reached the final with Argentina, and Rodri was one of the key figures in Spain's triumph.
Who are the most recent Ballon d'Or winners?
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo dominated the Ballon d'Or for many years, but other players have also had their turn in recent seasons.
The aforementioned Ousmane Dembele won in 2025, while Spanish midfielder Rodri triumphed a year earlier.
In 2023, Lionel Messi won the award after Argentina's World Cup triumph in Qatar. In 2022, Karim Benzema of Real Madrid won, while Messi claimed another title in 2021.
The 2020 award was cancelled because of the pandemic. Messi won again a year earlier, while in 2018 the dominance of the Argentine and Portuguese stars was ended by Croatian midfielder Luka Modric. Cristiano Ronaldo won the award in 2016 and 2017.
Who has won the most Ballon d'Or trophies?
Lionel Messi is the record holder, having won the Ballon d'Or eight times. Cristiano Ronaldo is second with five titles. Their long-running rivalry had a major influence on modern football, with the pair winning 13 trophies between them.
Johan Cruyff, Michel Platini and Marco van Basten each won three Ballon d'Or awards.