Football’s best and brightest descend on London for the sport’s biggest individual prize – the Ballon d’Or. We will bring you all the live updates throughout the ceremony, including the other awards, such as the women’s Ballon d’Or, the Gerd Muller Trophy and many more.
18:51 CET – With the online chaos seemingly getting the better of the organisers, we are expecting the stars to arrive on the red carpet in the next 10 minutes or so.
In the gambling world, we reported earlier that the odds were swinging towards Kylian Mbappe. Since then, however, Harry Kane has returned to the favourite spot.
Make of that what you will…
It was already a good weekend for the Frenchman, who brought up his century for Real Madrid against the old enemy, Barcelona.
18:40 CET – For those looking for spoilers, you will not be in luck on the official website.
Daily Mail journalist Nathan Salt has spotted that the site has published articles on our projected top three all winning tonight.
They have since been deleted.
Interesting…
18:30 CET – Then, we were down to 10. Here are your finalists for the men’s Ballon d’Or 2026.
Harry Kane, Erling Haaland, Ousmane Dembele, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Lamine Yamal, Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi, Michael Olise, Rodri and Fabian Ruiz.
Who will win the prize later tonight?
18:25 CET – Onto the teens, before we get to the final 10 – here are the standings!
19th: Joao Neves, 18th: Marc Cucurella, 17th: Vinicius Jr, 16th: Ferran Torres, 15th: Declan Rice, 14th: Vitinha, 13th: Achraf Hakimi, 12th: Pau Cubarsi, 11th: Jude Bellingham
A first nomination for Ferran Torres, the World Cup match-winner, and one according to the official live feed, won’t be his last. He and his PSG teammates have other business to attend to tonight, as they take on Lyon in ‘Le Classique’ from 20:30 CET – a game you can follow here.
Meanwhile, Jude Bellingham just misses out on the top 10.
18:17 CET – Now, we move on to the men’s rankings from 30th all the way down to 11th – let’s start with 29th – 20th.
Joint 29th: Sadio Mane and William Saliba, 28th: Julian Quinones, 27th: Bruno Fernandes, 26th: Dayot Upamecano, 25th: Marquinhos, 24th: Luis Diaz, 23rd: Nuno Mendes, 22nd: Lautaro Martinez, 21st: Gabriel, 20th: Willian Pacho
Luis Diaz can certainly feel harshly done for in this year’s event – the Colombian had a hand in 45 goals across last season for Bayern – only four players in Europe’s top five leagues managed more.
17:41 CET – That leaves us with 10 finalists, with one of them winning the Ballon d’Or Feminin.
They are: Temwa Chawinga, Melchie Dumornay, Caroline Graham Hansen, Patri Guijarro, Pernille Harder, Ewa Pajor, Claudia Pina, Alexia Putellas, Alessia Russo and Khadija Shaw.
17:36 CET – Our last batch of rankings for the Ballon d’Or Feminin before we get down to the business end later – here are the placings from 19th – 11th.
19th: Tessa Wullaert, 18th: Barbra Banda, 17th: Esmee Brugts, 16th: Maria Leon, 15th: Cata Coll, 14th: Wendie Renard, 13th: Mariona Caldentey, 12th: Klara Buhl, 11th: Yui Hasegawa.
17:25 CET – They come thick and fast now, so let’s round out the top 20…
27th: Rose Lavelle, 26th: Alex Greenwood, 25th: Caroline Weir, 24th: Kerstin Casparij 23rd: Momoko Tanikawa, 22nd: Manaka Matsukubo, 21st: Scarlett Camberos, 20th: Selma Bacha.
17:22 CET – As is custom for the Ballon d’Or, the drip-feed of rankings for the awards has begun, with the 30th-11th placed players in the Ballon d’Or Feminin now being revealed.
In joint 28th place is Dutch international Vivianne Miedema, Melvine Malard – currently with Chelsea – and Brazilian goalkeeper Lorena.
17:15 CET – As the final touches are made to the London Palladium ahead of the big night, let’s look at what the bookmakers are saying.
A spokesperson for William Hill has noted that Kylian Mbappe is starting to overtake Harry Kane in the running for the award, despite Kane being the out-and-out favourite over recent days.
Could we be in for a shock tonight?
17:00 CET – After weeks of campaigning online and in person, it’s time for the Ballon d’Or – football’s answer to the Oscars.
An individual award in a team sport always feels slightly strange, but the lustre of this evening has built over the years, creating something that every player now wants to win.
Years of hegemony of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo has ended, seeing Ousmane Dembele take the crown last year.
The three big contenders for 2026 are Harry Kane, Lamine Yamal and Kylian Mbappe. The trio have all had fantastic campaigns, leading their respective teams to success and have also performed well on the biggest stage of all – the World Cup.
But they are not the only nominees for the Ballon d’Or. There are 30 players who could theoretically win, including former winners Messi, Dembele and Rodri. Also on the list are the likes of Jude Bellingham, Erling Haaland and Vinicius Junior. He and his fellow Real Madrid nominees are expected in the British capital tonight – the first time they have attended since 2023, after the snub of the Brazilian for the award in 2024 and 2025.
In the women’s Ballon d’Or, Barcelona star Alexia Putellas is expected to win for the third time in her career, ending Aitana Bonmati’s three-year reign. Others who could usurp Putellas are former Barca teammate Ewa Pajor or Lyon’s Melchie Dumornay.
Across the night, 10 awards will be given out, including the best coaches in the men’s and women’s game, the best teams and best players across certain positions.
You may be wondering why the awards ceremony is taking place in London rather than France, given that France Football and UEFA are the organisers of the ceremony.
In its 70th year, the Ballon d’Or is paying tribute to its inaugural winner, Sir Stanley Matthews, and therefore is taking place in his home nation. Since 2019, the ceremony has been held in Paris, and it is the first time London has hosted it. Over the years, four players from England have won the accolade – the last was Michael Owen in 2001. Kane, if he were to pick it up tonight, would become the fifth.
Before we really get going, here is everything you need to know about the Ballon d’Or.