Ballon d'Or 2026: Harry Kane, Declan Rice, Jude Bellingham among nominees but no Cristiano Ronaldo

The 2026 Ballon d'Or nominees have been announced as the best male and female footballers of the year are identified.

Harry Kane is among those in the running for the men's prize and is the bookmakers' favourite to be crowned.

Kane scored 73 goals last season, enjoying one of the best campaigns of his career and he could become the first Englishman to win the Ballon d'Or since Michael Owen in 2001.

Kane is joined the 30-man long-list by international teammates Jude Bellingham and Declan Rice.

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Other Premier League stars like Bruno Fernandes, Erling Haaland, Gabriel and William Saliba are among the other players included.

Lamine Yamal, Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe will be the likely challengers to Kane for the illustrious award but there is no nomination for Cristiano Ronaldo despite winning the Saudi Pro League with Al-Nassr.

England stars Alessia Russo and Alex Greenwood are among 30 players nominated for the women's Ballon d'Or.

Men's Ballon d'Or nominees

• Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid)
• Pau Cubarsi (Barcelona)
• Marc Cucurella (Real Madrid)
• Ousmane Dembele (PSG)
• Luis Diaz (Bayern Munich)
• Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United)
• Erling Haaland (Manchester City)
• Gabriel (Arsenal)
• Harry Kane (Bayern Munich)
• Acraf Hakimi (PSG)
• Lamine Yamal (Barcelona)
• Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (PSG)
• Marquinhos (PSG)
• Sadio Mane (Al Nassr)
• Lautaro Martinez (Inter)
• Kylian Mbappe (Real Madrid)
• Nuno Mendes (PSG)
• Lionel Messi (Inter Miami)
• Michael Olise (Bayern Munich)
• Joao Neves (PSG)
• William Pacho (PSG)
• Julian Quinones (Al Qadsia)
• Declan Rice (Arsenal)
• Rodri (Barcelona)
• Ferran Torres (PSG)
• Fabian Ruiz (PSG)
• William Saliba (Arsenal)
• Dayot Upamecano (Bayern Munich)
• Vinicius Jnr (Real Madrid)
• Vitinha (PSG)

Women's Ballon d'Or nominees

• Esmee Brugts (Barcelona)
• Klara Buhl(Bayern Women)
• Mariona Caldentey (Arsenal)
• Barbra Banda (Orlando Pride)
• Selma Bacha (Lyon)
• Scarlett Camberos (Club America)
• Temwa Chawinga (Kansas City Current)
• Kerstin Casparij (Manchester City)
• Cata Coll (Barcelona)
• Corventina Dumornay(Lyon)
• Caroline Graham Hansen (Barcelona)
• Alex Greenwood (Manchester City)
• Patri Guijarro (Barcelona)
• Pernille Harder (Bayern Munich)
• Yui Hasegawa (Manchester City)
• Rose Lavelle (FC Gotham)
• Mapi Leon (Barcelona)
• Lorena Leite (Kansas City Current)
• Manaka Matsukobo (Chelsea)
• Melvine Malard (Manchester Utd)
• Ewa Pajor (Barcelona)
• Vivianne Miedema (Manchester City)
• Alexia Putellas (London City Lionesses)
• Claudia Pina (Barcelona)
• Wendie Renard (Lyon)
• Alessia Russo (Arsenal)
• Momoko Tanikawa (Bayern Munich)
• Khadija Shaw (Manchester City)
• Tessa Wullaert (Como)
• Caroline Weir (Real Madrid)

Men's Young Talent of the Year nominees

• Kerim Alajbegovic (RB Salzburg/Juventus)
• Ayyoub Bouaddi - (Lille/Manchester City)
• Pau Cubarsi - (Barcelona)
• Yan Diomande - (RB Leizig/Real Madrid)
• Lennart Karl - (Bayern Munich)
• Eli Junior Kroupi - (Bournemouth)
• Johan Manzambi - (Freiburg/Aston Villa)
• Lamine Yamal - (Barcelona)
• Ibrahim Maza - (Bayer Leverkusen)
• Warren Zaire-Emery - (PSG)

Women's Young Talent of the Year nominees

• Veerle Buurman - (Chelsea)
• Vicky Lopez - (Barcelona)
• Felicia Schroder (Real Madrid)
• Clara Serrajordi - (Barcelona)
• Lily Yohannes - (Lyon)

Men's Goalkeeper of the Year nominees

• Yassine Bounou - (Al Hilal)
• Thibaut Courtois - (Real Madrid)
• Gregor Kobel - (Borussia Dortmund)
• Joan Garcia - (Barcelona)
• Edouard Mendy - (Al-Ahli)
• Emi Martinez - (Aston Villa/Chelsea)
• David Raya - (Arsenal)
• Vozinha - (GD Chaves/Colo-Colo)
• Unai Simon - (Athletic Bilbao)
• Matvey Safonov - (PSG)

Women's Goalkeeper of the Year nominees

• Ann-Katrin Berger - (Gotham FC)
• Cata Coll - (Barcelona)
• Hannah Hampton - (Chelsea)
• Lorena - (Kansas City)
• Ayaka Yamashita - (Manchester City)

Women's Coach of the Year nominees

• Jonatan Giraldez - (Lyon)
• Andree Jeglertz - (Man City)
• Nils Nielsen - (Japan)
• Pere Romeu - (FCB)
• Elena Sadiku - (Celtic/BK Hacken)

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 - (PSG)

When is the Ballon d'Or ceremony?

The 70th Ballon d'Or ceremony will take place on October 26, 2026 in London.

How are the Ballon d'Or winners decided?

The shortlist was compiled by a group of journalists from France Football working alongside French sports publication L'Equipe.

For the men's Ballon d'Or prize, winners are decided by a voting system involving one journalist from each of the top 100 FIFA-ranked nations.

Each journalist casts votes for their top 10 players from the 30-player shortlist. The 10 players are awarded 15, 12, 10, seven, five, four, three, two and one point based on where they rank.

If players are tied on points, then whoever has the most first-place rankings from the 100 journalists finishes ahead on points. If that is tied, then it's the most second-places and so on.

Journalists are encouraged to consider three factors when deciding their vote:

• Individual performances, decisive and impressive character

• Team performances and achievements

• Class and fair play

For the women's Ballon d'Or, the same process applies but only journalists from the top-50 ranked nations are invited to vote.