Ballon d'Or Announces 30-Man Shortlist: Kane and Rodri Lead the Nominees; Messi, Haaland and Bellingham Included, Raphinha Misses Out

According to media reports including Football News, on September 8 Beijing time, the Ballon d'Or officially announced the 30-player shortlist for the 2026 Men's Ballon d'Or. Kane, Messi, Mbappe and Yamal are included, while Haaland, Bellingham, Vinicius, Rodri, Rice and Dembele have also made the shortlist. Raphinha was not selected.

The full list:

Bellingham (Real Madrid/England), Cubarsi (Barcelona/Spain), Dembele (Paris/France), Cucurella (Chelsea/Real Madrid/Spain), Luis Diaz (Bayern/Colombia), Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United/Portugal)

Haaland (Manchester City/Norway), Gabriel (Arsenal/Brazil), Kane (Bayern/England), Hakimi (Paris/Morocco), Yamal (Barcelona/Spain), Kvaratskhelia (Paris/Georgia)

Marquinhos (Paris/Brazil), Mane (Al Nassr/Senegal), Mbappe (Real Madrid/France), Lautaro Martinez (Inter Milan/Argentina), Messi (Inter Miami/Argentina), Mendes (Paris/Portugal)

Joao Neves (Paris/Portugal), Olise (Bayern/France), Pacho (Paris/Ecuador), Quinones (Al Qadsiah/Mexico), Rice (Arsenal/England), Rodri (Manchester City/Barcelona/Spain)

Upamecano (Bayern/France), Fabian (Paris/Spain), Ferran Torres (Paris/Barcelona/Spain), Saliba (Arsenal/France), Vinicius (Real Madrid/Brazil), Vitinha (Paris/Portugal)

Detailed Ballon d'Or selection rules

Ballon d'Or rules: three criteria, with the selection period ending on July 19, and ranking votes used as the tiebreaker for equal points.

The reference period covers the entire previous season, from August 3, 2025 to July 19, 2026, including national team competitions (for men's football, including the World Cup and Africa Cup of Nations; for women's football, including the Asian Cup and UEFA Nations League final stages). The Women's Africa Cup of Nations, which ended on August 16, will be included in the next Ballon d'Or selection period.

Ballon d'Or voting process

After the shortlist is announced, an international jury composed of professional sports journalists will conduct the voting.

Jury composition: The men's award jury consists of representative journalists from the top 100 ranked FIFA men's national teams/regions; the women's award jury consists of representative journalists from the top 50 ranked women's national teams/regions. Each country/region has one representative journalist.

Each voter selects the best candidates according to three established criteria: individual performances and key performances, team achievements and titles won, and conduct and fair play on and off the pitch.

Based on these criteria, each voting journalist must select and rank 10 players from the shortlist. The first choice receives 15 points, with points decreasing in order, and the tenth choice receives 1 point.

The player with the highest total points will lift the trophy on October 26.

Meet in London on October 26

Since 2019, the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris has been the venue for the Ballon d'Or ceremony. At that time, the Men's Ballon d'Or will crown its 70th winner, while the Women's Ballon d'Or will welcome its eighth winner.

This year, to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Ballon d'Or, the ceremony will move to London, largely to honor Sir Stanley Matthews, the first winner in Ballon d'Or history. Stanley Matthews is regarded as one of the greatest players in English football history, and he became the first Ballon d'Or winner in 1956.

Source: Football News

Editor: Wang Meng

Reviewer: Yang Zhi

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