The 2026 Ballon d’Or ceremony is set for Monday in London. Kylian Mbappé, Lamine Yamal, Harry Kane, and Michael Olise are among the top contenders for the men’s award.
This is the 70th edition of the ceremony. It will announce winners in various categories, celebrating top players, goalkeepers, young talents, and coaches in football.
The official Ballon d’Or website said on Monday that live coverage will start at 4pm London time. They will provide verified updates, behind-the-scenes reports, reactions, statistics, and announcements throughout the event.
The winner of the men’s award will take over from Ousmane Dembélé. He is still a nominee, along with Mbappé, Yamal, Kane, Olise, Vitinha, Erling Haaland, Vinícius Júnior, and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.
The website noted that this year’s contest is one of the closest in recent memory. They mentioned that there have been no confirmed leaks about the winners ahead of the ceremony.
Voting Process Explained
The organisers have shared details about how the voting will work. The official rules on the Ballon d’Or website say that an international jury will decide the men’s award. This jury includes specialist journalists from the top 100 countries in the FIFA rankings. For the women’s award, journalists will come from the top 50 countries.
The rankings that were in place when the nominees were announced on September 8, 2026, will decide which countries are on the jury.
Each jury member must pick 10 players from a shortlist of 30. They will rank these players by merit. The points for selections are distributed as follows: 15, 12, 10, 8, 7, 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1 point.
The player with the highest total score will win the award. If there is a tie, the winner will be chosen based on who got the most first-place votes. If that does not solve it, second-place votes and then further rankings will be looked at.
The shortlist is put together by the editorial staff of France Football, members of L’Équipe's editorial team, at least one member from the previous jury, and designated football ambassadors.
The Ballon d’Or website said its editorial team will give updates from London. This includes the arrival of nominees, reactions from important figures, and other news throughout the evening.
The ceremony will also feature the women’s Ballon d’Or and other special awards to recognize achievements in the game.
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