Ballon d'Or 2026: what happens if two or more players tie?

The 2026 Ballon d'Or vote is wide open with no clear favourite; organisers have tiebreak rules ready in case of a perfect tie.

The 2026 Ballon d'Or ceremony takes place Monday evening in London with an unusually competitive field. Lamine Yamal, Harry Kane, Kylian Mbappé, Lionel Messi and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia are all in contention, with no standout favourite emerging.

A 100-strong international jury of journalists representing the top 100 FIFA-ranked nations will vote from a 30-player shortlist, awarding points on a descending scale (15, 12, 10, 8, 7, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1). Historically, margins have been razor-thin: Messi beat Van Dijk by seven points in 2019, while Matthias Sammer's 1996 win over Ronaldo came by just one point.

If votes end in a perfect tie, France Football's rules specify a tiebreaker based on first-place votes, then second-place votes, and so on down the ballot. Any remaining dispute will be resolved by France Football's editor-in-chief. A single winner will be crowned at London Palladium around 11 p.m. Monday.