Ballon d'Or 2026: who makes up the jury and how does voting work?

The 2026 Ballon d'Or will be decided by 100 international journalists, one per country in FIFA's top 100 nations, voting on a points system from August 2025 to July 2026.

The 2026 Ballon d'Or ceremony takes place Monday evening at London Palladium, with 30 nominees competing for the award. Unlike previous years, no single favourite has emerged; contenders include Lamine Yamal, Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappé.

The award is decided by an international jury of 100 journalists, with one representative per country from FIFA's top 100 nations (the 100th being El Salvador). Each voter selects 10 players and ranks them in descending order of merit, awarding 15, 12, 10, 8, 7, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 point respectively. The voting period runs from 3 August 2025 to 19 July 2026, with the highest point total determining the winner.

The 30-player shortlist was compiled by a 14-person jury including France Football's editorial team, two journalists from L'Équipe's football section, English journalist Henry Winter, Italian coach Fabio Capello and former Portugal player Luis Figo, the 2000 Ballon d'Or winner.