Nominees for Ballon d'Or: Who will be a world footballer?
Four male FC Bayern professionals have hopes of being chosen as world footballer, but one German player is not included.
Quick Look
- The nominees for the 2026 Ballon d'Or have been announced.
- While no German player is nominated among the men, German players Klara Bühl and Ann-Katrin Berger are on the lists.
- The awards ceremony will take place on October 26th in London.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
The Ballon d'Or is a prestigious award for footballers, presented by the French newspaper France Football since 1956.
Harry Kane is one of the 30 candidates in the Ballon d'Or election for the best player of the past football season. The FC Bayern star striker was nominated, as were his Munich teammates Luis Díaz, Michael Olise and Dayot Upamecano. A German player is not in the selection of the best 30 footballers. This was announced by the French sports newspaper “L'Équipe”. The honor will take place on October 26th in London.
Other players are given greater chances than Kane, such as Spain's world champion captain Rodri, the French World Cup record goalscorer Kylian Mbappé and Argentina's superstar Lionel Messi. MLS franchise Inter Miami's Messi would be the first male winner of the prestigious award who did not play for a European club in the season being judged. The 39-year-old, who recently announced his retirement from the national team, has already won the award eight times - more often than anyone else.
“From an individual point of view, the Ballon d'Or is the greatest thing you can achieve,” Kane said in mid-August. »The Ballon d'Or is not in my hands. I did what I could do in terms of performances. The Englishman scored an impressive 61 goals in 51 competitive games last season and led the Three Lions to the semi-finals of the World Cup.
FC Bayern is also represented in other categories. Master coach Vincent Kompany is up for election, but has to assert himself against great competition such as Spain's world champion coach Luis de la Fuente and Luis Enrique from Champions League winner Paris Saint-Germain.
In the team selection, FC Bayern is the only German club to be among the nominees - both for men and women. However, Bayern only have outsider chances here; the favorites are the premier class winners Paris Saint-Germain (men) and FC Barcelona (women).
In the list of women's footballers, Klara Bühl, a German national player, is also included in the selection of the best 30 players of the year. Bühl played an important role in FC Bayern Munich's successful double season. Her teammates Pernille Harder and Momoko Tanikawa are also among the 30 nominated players.
Among the goalkeepers, German national player Ann-Katrin Berger (Gotham FC) ended up on the nomination list. Among the male goalkeepers, the Swiss Gregor Kobel from Borussia Dortmund is up for election for the Yashin Trophy. Bayern professional and national player Lennart Karl found himself in the category of best talent.
The Golden Ball award is a journalist's choice. The prize, which is awarded by the newspaper "France Football", which is part of the Amaury Group, has existed since 1956 and was long only considered an award for Europe's Footballer of the Year.
At the same time, the world association Fifa has been honoring world footballers since 1991. Between 2010 and 2015, FIFA entered into a cooperation with the Amaury Group.
What to Watch
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
The awards ceremony will take place on October 26th in London.
Very likely · Within weeks
Open Questions
- Who will win the Ballon d'Or 2026?




