October’s Ballon d’Or ceremony in London is nearly upon us, and to whet the appetite, the nominees have been named for the 10 awards with a slew of global stars among them, including Harry Kane, Kylian Mbappe and Alexia Putellas.
This year’s Ballon d’Or shortlist has been announced – with a third of the 30 players coming from European champions PSG.
The winner will be announced at a glittering ceremony in London on Monday, October 26.
It is the first time the event will have taken place outside of its normal home in Paris.
It may therefore be fitting if a player from the Spanish capital was to be crowned the world’s best player.
Vitinha, who was on target for PSG as they beat Arsenal in the UEFA Champions League final, is one of ten stars from his club to make the shortlist.
He was third in the vote in 2025 and is joined by last year’s winner Ousmane Dembele, as well as teammates Fabian Ruiz, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Achraf Hakimi.
Ferran Torres, who made the switch to the French capital from Barcelona this summer, is also up for the much-coveted gong.
Away from Luis Enrique’s side, three English players have made the shortlist.
That trio are Harry Kane, Declan Rice and Jude Bellingham, who all excelled for their country in reaching the FIFA World Cup semi-finals this summer.
Kane came 13th last year, despite plundering 41 goals for club side Bayern Munich in the 2024/25 campaign.
With 61 strikes for the Bundesliga giants last season, he is the favourite to lift the trophy this year.
Speaking to TNT Sports’ Owen Hargreaves this week, the England striker addressed what he described as a “misconception” about his style of play.
Discussing the way he often drops deep to get involved in the game, Kane said: “I actually get more chances arriving from deep than when I just stand in the box.”
The striker is far from the only representative from Bayern Munich either, as he is joined by Luis DÃaz, Michael Olise and Dayot Upamecano.
They will face competition from Real Madrid star Kylian Mbappe, who is still chasing his first Ballon d’Or award.
The striker has come 3rd, 6th and 7th in the voting in 2023, 2024 and 2025 respectively.
Also hoping for a maiden success is Barcelona’s teenage sensation Lamine Yamal.
The 19-year-old is already a World Cup winner and three-time La Liga champion, scoring 16 goals in 28 top flight appearances last season.
He came second last year, narrowly missing out to Dembele.
Other notable names on the 30-man list include Manchester United talisman Bruno Fernandes, Erling Haaland of Manchester City and Real Madrid’s VinÃcius Júnior.
Barcelona’s missing names
While most of the nominees come as no surprise, it was a shock not to see Barcelona star Raphinha on the shortlist.
The Brazilian international helped his club to La Liga and Spanish Super Cup glory last year.
He played 33 matches across all competitions, scoring 21 goals, 13 of which came in the league.
Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick was also absent in the voting for the Men’s Coach of the Year award, despite that domestic success.
He was pipped to the shortlist by Luis Enrique and Mikel Arteta after they guided PSG and Arsenal to the UEFA Champions League final as well as domestic titles.
UEFA Europa League winners Aston Villa have seen Unai Emery listed, alongside Bayern’s Vincent Kompany and Spain’s World Cup winning boss Luis de la Fuente.
The list of nominees, as announced on Tuesday, is as follows:
Women’s Club of the Year
- Barcelona
- Bayern Munich
- Club America
- Manchester City
- OL Lyonnes
Men’s Club of the Year
- Arsenal
- Bayern Munich
- Bodo/Glimt
- Flamengo
- Paris Saint-Germain
Women’s Coach of the Year
- Jonatan Giraldez
- Andree Jeglertz
- Nils Nielsen
- Pere Romeu
- Elena Sadiku
Men’s Coach of the Year
- Mikel Arteta
- Luis de la Fuente
- Unai Emery
- Vincent Kompany
- Luis Enrique
Women’s Goalkeeper of the Year
- Ann-Katrin Berger
- Cata Coll
- Hannah Hampton
- Lorena
- Ayaka Yamashita
Men’s Goalkeeper of the Year
- Yassine Bounou
- Thibaut Courtois
- Gregor Kobel
- Joan Garcia
- Edouard Mendy
- Emi Martinez
- David Raya
- Vozinha
- Unai Simon
- Matvey Safonov
Women’s Young Talent of the Year
- Veerle Buurman
- Vicky Lopez
- Felicia Schroder
- Clara Serrajordi
- Lily Yohannes
Men’s Young Talent of the Year
- Kerim Alajbegovic
- Ayyoub Bouaddi
- Pau Cubarsi
- Yan Diomande
- Lennart Karl
- Eli Junior Kroupi
- Lamine Yamal
- Johan Manzambi
- Ibrahim Maza
- Warren Zaire-Emery
Women’s Ballon d’Or
- Selma Bacha
- Barbra Banda
- Klara Buhl
- Esmee Brugts
- Mariona Caldentey
- Scarlett Camberos
- Kerstin Casparij
- Temwa Chawinga
- Cata Coll
- Melchie Dumornay
- Caroline Graham Hansen
- Alex Greenwood
- Patri Guijarro
- Pernille Harder
- Yiu Hasegawa
- Rose Lavelle
- Mapi Leon
- Lorena
- Melvine Malard
- Manaka Matsukubo
- Vivianne Miedema
- Ewa Pajor
- Claudia Pina
- Alexia Putellas
- Wendie Renard
- Alessia Russo
- Khadija Shaw
- Momoko Tanikawa
- Caroline Weir
- Tessa Wullaert
Men’s Ballon d’Or
- Jude Bellingham
- Pau Cubarsi
- Marc Cucurella
- Ousmane Dembele
- Luis Diaz
- Bruno Fernandes
- Gabriel
- Erling Haaland
- Achraf Hakimi
- Harry Kane
- Khvicha Kvaratskhelia
- Lamine Yamal
- Sadio Mane
- Marquinhos
- Lautaro Martinez
- Kylian Mbappe
- Nuno Mendes
- Lionel Messi
- Joao Neves
- Michael Olise
- Willian Pacho
- Julian Quinones
- Declan Rice
- Rodri
- Fabian Ruiz
- William Saliba
- Ferran Torres
- Dayot Upamecano
- Vinicius Jr.
- Vitinha
