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Back|2026 Ballon d'Or Shortlist Announced
2026 Ballon d'Or Shortlist Announced
Sports
BBC Sport·58 minutes ago·Sports·1 min read·🇬🇧United Kingdom

2026 Ballon d'Or Shortlist Announced

Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham, and Declan Rice among 30 nominees for the 70th anniversary award

Quick Look

  • The 30-player shortlist for the 2026 Ballon d'Or features England's Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham, and Declan Rice.
  • Lionel Messi and Lamine Yamal are also nominated for the award, which will be presented in London on 26 October.

AI-generated summary

Why It Matters

The Ballon d'Or is an annual football award created by France Football in 1956. This year marks the 70th anniversary of the trophy.

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Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane is one of three England players nominated for the 2026 Ballon d'Or.

Real Madrid's Jude Bellingham and Arsenal's Declan Rice join Kane, the favourite for the award, on the 30-player shortlist.

Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi, who is looking to win his ninth Ballon d'Or, has been nominated.

The 39-year-old scored eight goals as Argentina lost the World Cup final to Spain in July, with Messi since retiring from international football.

Lamine Yamal is one of six Spain players that won the World Cup to be included.

Having scored the winning goal in the final, Paris St-Germain forward Ferran Torres, who joined the French club from Barcelona in the summer, makes the cut.

Back-to-back Champions League winners Paris St-Germain have nine players - excluding new signing Torres - nominated, including last year's winner Ousmane Dembele.

Real Madrid forwards Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Jr also make the shortlist, as do Arsenal defenders Gabriel and William Saliba.

The award is celebrating its 70th anniversary, having been created by France Football in 1956, and the winner will be announced at an ceremony in London on 26 October.

The "symbolic choice of venue" is in tribute to former England player Sir Stanley Matthews, who won the first Ballon d'Or.

What to Watch

AI outlook — possibilities, not facts

  • Winner announcement on 26 October in London.

    Very likely · Within months

Open Questions

  • ?Who will be the final winner of the 2026 Ballon d'Or?

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This article was originally published by BBC Sport.

Quick Look

  • The 30-player shortlist for the 2026 Ballon d'Or features England's Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham, and Declan Rice.
  • Lionel Messi and Lamine Yamal are also nominated for the award, which will be presented in London on 26 October.

AI-generated summary

Story signals

News tone
Positive outcome
Emotional intensity
High
News value
Moderate
Global impact
Global
Follow-up likelihood
Certain
Relevance window
Weeks

Source & Reliability

Source
BBC Sport
Story type
Hard news
Source quality
Full
Published
58 minutes ago

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