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Alex Mott·8 September 2026

Follow below for all our updates on the Ballon d'Or contenders.

That brings our coverage of the Ballon d'Or nominations to a close.

Thanks for joining us, and do let us know in the comments who you think will walk away with the awards.

It is now four straight years that the multiple-time winner has failed to make the final voting list.

Once again, here are the 30 contenders for the Ballon d'Or. Who should finish on top?

The full list of nominees for the 2026 Men's Ballon d'Or.

You just cannot keep a great player out for long.

Cristiano Ronaldo misses OUT. He has not been nominated for the 2026 Ballon d'Or.

Will Cristiano Ronaldo's name appear? We should know any moment now.

If our calculations are right, there should be 10 more players still to come.

Paris Saint-Germain's midfield maestro is included as well ...

It has been a breakthrough 12 months for this player ...

And there he is ...

Another Paris Saint-Germain player makes the list after their Champions League triumph ...

Kylian Mbappe has been outstanding in 2026 ...

Naturally, the Paris Saint-Germain captain had to be included ...

Sadio Mane may now be playing in Saudi Arabia, but he is also among the top 30 ...

We have just been informed that the list is in alphabetical order, which means Bradley Barcola and Desire Doue are both OUT of the running!

Paris Saint-Germain's electric winger rightly gets the nod ...

Lamine Yamal is in as well ...

Paris Saint-Germain's superb right-back also gets the nod ...

This year's favourite has now been named ...

Arsenal's outstanding centre-back is deservedly included too ...

Of course, Erling Haaland had to be on the list ...

Luis Diaz has done more than enough to earn his place on this shortlist ...

It has been an excellent 12 months for the Manchester United captain ...

And Marc Cucurella is in ....

Here is last year's winner ...

World Cup winner Pau Cubarsi is also included ...

The first name drawn is Jude Bellingham ...

The men's nominees are arriving now!

The men's nominees should be revealed within the next 15 minutes.

Are there any major names missing from this list? Let us know your biggest complaints in the comments.

And here is the full list of Women's Ballon d'Or nominees ...

If our calculations are correct, there should be only two more names to come.

One of the world's best strikers is on the list too ...

It would not be a Ballon d'Or shortlist without this former winner ...

Miedema is here. She is the 21st name to be revealed, so only a few remain in the Women's Ballon d'Or ...

Mapi Leon is among the 30 ...

Manchester City's Japanese star gets the nod ...

It has been a brilliant 12 months for Pernille Harder ...

The first Lionesses representation ....

She has already been nominated for the Goalkeeper award and now she is also in the main list of nominees ...

Casparij simply had to be on this list ...

We are moving quickly through the names now ...

A thoroughly deserved nod here ...

Some Barcelona representation. I am sure we will be seeing a few more of their stars ...

Another name is in ...

Here are some of the early nominees ...

It appears the official Ballon d'Or account is releasing the nominees one by one, so we will do our best to stay on top of every name. Wish us luck!

The previous seven Ballon d’Or Féminin winners

2018 – Ada Hegerberg (Lyon)

2019 – Megan Rapinoe (Reign FC)

2021 – Alexia Putellas (Barcelona)

2022 – Alexia Putellas (Barcelona)

2023 – Aitana Bonmati (Bareclona)

2024 – Aitana Bonmati (Barcelona)

2025 – Aitana Bonmati (Barcelona)

Next up will be the 30 nominees for the Women's Ballon d'Or!

Who is your choice for the best young player there? Surely it is Lamine Yamal ahead of the rest?

Next, we have the contenders for the 10 best young men's players in world football.

The nominees for the best women's Under-21 players are now in.

There are suggestions that Raphinha has missed out on a place in the final Ballon d'Or shortlist.

There has been some confusion over how many nominees there are for Men's Goalkeeper of the Year, but it looks as though they have settled on a final 10!

And now we have five more nominees for the Men's Goalkeeper of the Year!

Matvey Safonov - Paris Saint-Germain/Russia

David Raya - Arsenal/Spain

Unai Simón - Athletic Club/Spain

Vozinha - Colo-Colo/Cape Verde

Édouard Mendy - Senegal/Al Ahli

And the nominees are:

Thibaut Courtois - Real Madrid/Belgium

Bono - Al Hilal/Morocco

Joan Garcia - Barcelona/Spain

Gregor Kobel - Borussia Dortmund/Switzerland

Emi Martinez - Aston Villa, Chelsea/Argentina

And up next we have the Men's Goalkeeper nominations, which should be announced any minute now.

It seems hard to look beyond Cata Coll in that category, with the Barcelona goalkeeper having won a quadruple last season.

And here are the nominees for Women's Goalkeeper of the Year:

Ann-Katrin Berger - Gotham FC/Germany

Cata Coll - Barcelona/Spain

Hannah Hampton - Chelsea/England

Lorena - KC Current/Brazil

Ayaka Yamashita - Manchester City/Japan

Up next will be the nominees for Women's Goalkeeper of the Year.

Four Spaniards and one Belgian. The Iberian peninsula is really dominating matters in the dugout at the moment.

Five outstanding names there, but surely this award is between De La Fuente and Luis Enrique?

And now it is time for the Men's Coach of the Year nominees!

Mikel Arteta - Arsenal

Luis de la Fuente - Spain

Unai Emery - Aston Villa

Vincent Kompany - Bayern Munich

Luis Enrique - Paris Saint-Germain

If the earlier format is being followed, then I would expect the Men's Coach category to be next. Stay tuned!

And here come the nominees for Women's Coach of the Year ...

Jonatan Giraldez - OL Lyonnes

Andree Jeglertz - Manchester City

Nils Nielsen - Japan (currently unattached)

Pere Romeu - Barcelona

Elena Sadiku - Celtic/BK Hacken

You can ignore what we said in the previous post. It looks like the next set of nominees will be for Women's Coach!

If the running order on the Ballon d'Or website is accurate, Women's Strike of the Year should be next.

A little bit of history from the first award of the day ...

It is very difficult to argue with those five names. Who would be your pick? Let us know in the comments.

The nominees are:

Arsenal

Bayern Munich

Bodø/Glimt

Flamengo

Paris Saint-Germain

It looks as though we are moving rapidly through the awards, so here are the nominees for Men's Club of the Year 2026 ...

Up next should be the nominees for Men's Club of the Year. Exactly when that will be announced, however, remains unclear.

In case you prefer the visual version, here are those five nominees in a polished graphic from the Ballon d'Or ...

The nominees are:

Barcelona

Bayern Munich

Club America

Manchester City

OL Lyonnes

We are starting with the nominees for Women's Club of the Year ...

Hello everyone and welcome to a special live blog, with the nominees for the 2026 Ballon d'Or about to be revealed. We will bring you the names of those hoping to lift the biggest individual prize in football, along with all the reaction that follows. First, though, there will be plenty of other awards, including Men's Coach, Women's Coach, the Kopa Trophies for the best young player and, of course, the Women's Ballon d'Or as well.