20 African Countries Set to Vote for 2026 Ballon d'Or

Twenty African countries can vote for the 2026 Ballon d’Or. This is because they are in the top 100 of the FIFA men’s world ranking. This ranking decides who gets to vote in the award’s international jury.

France Football, which runs the award, explained that the men’s Ballon d’Or is decided by a jury of special journalists. Each of the 100 highest-ranked nations in the FIFA men’s world ranking has one representative.

The rules for 2026 say that the FIFA ranking on September 8 was used to pick the jury. Each journalist will choose and rank 10 players from the 30 nominees for the Ballon d’Or.

The player ranked first gets 15 points. The second gets 12 points, and the scoring continues with 10, eight, seven, five, four, three, two, and one point for the 10th choice.

The 20 African countries taking part in the 100-country jury are:

1. Morocco, 6th in FIFA ranking
2. Senegal, 18th
3. Egypt, 24th
4. Nigeria, 26th
5. Algeria, 29th
6. Côte d’Ivoire, 31st
7. DR Congo, 41st
8. Cameroon, 43rd
9. Mali, 53rd
10. South Africa, 54th
11. Tunisia, 57th
12. Burkina Faso, 62nd
13. Cabo Verde, 64th
14. Ghana, 65th
15. Guinea, 81st
16. Gabon, 84th
17. Angola, 87th
18. Uganda, 89th
19. Zambia, 90th
20. Benin, 94th

The other 80 countries in the top 100 come from Europe, Asia, North America, South America, and Oceania.

Key Journalists on the African Jury

France Football keeps the full list of voters private until the voting charts are published after the ceremony. But some African journalists who are confirmed voters for the Ballon d’Or include:

Nigeria: Samm Audu (Representing Nigeria through Score Nigeria).

Ghana: Michael Oti Adjei (A well-known sports broadcaster and head of sports at Media General, handling Ghana’s vote).

Egypt: Inas Mazhar (An experienced journalist, former CAF Media Officer, and long-time voter for Egypt).

South Africa: Mark Gleeson (A respected African football commentator, analyst, and statistician representing South Africa).

Morocco: Mustapha Badri (A well-known editor and director of the popular Moroccan sports magazine Al Mountakhab).

The Ballon d’Or ceremony will happen in London on October 26. This is when the winner of the men’s award will be revealed.

The award considers performances from the 2025-26 season, including both local and international competitions. France Football stated that the reference period runs from August 3, 2025, to July 19, 2026, which includes the 2026 World Cup and Africa Cup of Nations.