The 2026 Ballon d’Or ceremony is being held on Monday evening: Here is everything you need to know about the ceremony, how to follow it live and which Serie A players are nominated for awards.
The 70th annual Ballon d’Or ceremony is taking place at the Palladium in London on October 26 and is scheduled to get underway at 20.00 GMT (21.00 CET).
The ceremony will be available to watch on DAZN in English-speaking territories, including the UK, USA, Canada and Australia. The ceremony will also be live streamed on the Ballon d’Or website.
No Italians are up for the main award in 2026 and only one Serie A player features on the men’s shortlist: Inter captain Lautaro Martinez, who is considered one of the outsiders. Bayern Munich’s Harry Kane, Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal and Paris Saint-Germain’s Ousmane Dembele are among the frontrunners to claim the 2026 Ballon d’Or.
Juventus forward Kerim Alajbegovic is one of the 10 candidates nominated for the Kopa award, handed out to the best player under the age of 21.
See below for the full list of categories and nominees.
2026 Ballon d’Or categories and nominees
Ballon d’Or
Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid, England), Pau Cubarsi (Barcelona, Spain), Marc Cucurella (Real Madrid, Spain), Ousmane Dembele (PSG, France), Luis Diaz (Bayern Munich, Colombia), Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United, Portugal), Gabriel Magalhaes (Arsenal, Brazil), Erling Haaland (Manchester City, Norway), Achraf Hakimi (PSG, Morocco), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich, England), Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (PSG, Georgia), Sadio Mane (Al-Nassr, Senegal), Marquinhos (PSG, Brazil), Lautaro Martinez (Inter, Argentina), Kylian Mbappe (Real Madrid, France), Lionel Messi (Inter Miami, Argentina), Joao Neves (PSG, Portugal), Michael Olise (Bayern Munich, France), Willian Pacho (PSG, Ecuador), Julian Quinones (Al-Qadsiah, Mexico), Declan Rice (Arsenal, England), Rodri (Barcelona, Spain), Fabian Ruiz (PSG, Spain), William Saliba (Arsenal, France), Ferran Torres (Barcelona), Spain), Dayot Upamecano (Bayern Munich, France), Vinicius Jr (Real Madrid, Brazil), Vitinha (PSG, Portugal), Lamine Yamal (Barcelona, Spain).
Kopa Trophy
Kerim Alajbegovic (Juventus, Bosnia and Herzegovina), Ayyoub Bouaddi (Manchester City, Morocco), Pau Cubarsi (Barcelona, Spain), Yan Diomande (RB Leipzig, Ivory Coast), Lennart Karl (Bayern Munich, Germany), Eli Junior Kroupi (AFC Bournemouth, France), Lamine Yamal (Barcelona, Spain), Johan Manzambi (Aston Villa, Switzerland), Ibrahim Maza (Bayer Leverkusen, Algeria), Warren Zaire-Emery (PSG, France).
Yashin trophy
Yassine Bounou (Al-Hilal, Morocco), Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid, Belgium), Joan Garcia (Barcelona, Spain), Gregor Kobel (Borussia Dortmund, Switzerland), Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa, Argentina), Edouard Mendy (Al-Ahli, Senegal), David Raya (Arsenal, Spain), Matvey Safonov (PSG, Russia), Unai Simon (Athletic Club, Spain), Vozinha (Colo-Colo, Cape Verde).
Club of the year
Arsenal, Bayern Munich, Bodo/Glimt. Flamengo, PSG.
Coach of the year
Mikel Arteta (Arsenal), Luis De La Fuente (Spain), Unai Emery (Aston Villa), Vincent Kompany (Bayern Munich), Luis Enrique (PSG).
