--- title: "France Football Announces the 2026 Ballon d'Or Nominees: Kane the Main Favorite, Ceremony to Be Held in London for the First Time" description: "France Football has announced the list of 2026 Ballon d'Or nominees on the occasion of the award's 70th anniversary. The ceremony will be held in London for the first time on October 26, with Harry Kane considered the main favorite." date: 2026-09-09T06:12:01.000Z lang: en url: https://xab.info/en/posts/golden-ball-2026-nominees-france-football-london tags: [golden-ball, france-football, harry-kane, kylian-mbappe, lionel-messi, psg, football-awards] publisher: "XAB.info" --- # France Football Announces the 2026 Ballon d'Or Nominees: Kane the Main Favorite, Ceremony to Be Held in London for the First Time ## 🎯 Key Points - France Football announced the list of 2026 Ballon d'Or candidates on the occasion of the award's 70th anniversary. - The October 26 ceremony will be held outside France for the first time — in London, in memory of Stanley Matthews. - Harry Kane (73 goals for the season) is named the main favorite; among the candidates are Mbappé, Haaland, Messi, and Dembélé. - PSG is represented by nine players; the publications' versions differ on the top-30 composition (Kvara茨khelia, the absence of Ronaldo and Rafinha). The French publication France Football has officially released the list of candidates for the most prestigious individual award in world football for the 2025/26 season. This is reported by Sport RBC.UA, citing the award's official website. This year the trophy marks its 70th anniversary: the first Ballon d'Or was awarded back in 1956, and it was on this occasion that the organizers introduced a number of innovations, including moving the award ceremony outside of France. ### Ceremony in London: a Historic Decision The winner in the main category will be announced on October 26 at a ceremony in London. According to the publication, this is the first time in the award's seventy-year history that the France Football Ballon d'Or will be presented outside of France. The choice of the UK's capital is symbolic and serves as a tribute to the legendary Stanley Matthews, who became the first recipient of the award in 1956. Thus, the anniversary season combines a retrospective with a refresh of the presentation format. ### Harry Kane — the Main Favorite According to Sport RBC.UA materials, the main contender for the trophy is Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane, who scored 73 goals for his club and national team last season. In addition to him, high chances of winning the award are given to Kylian Mbappé, Erling Haaland, Rodri, Jude Bellingham, Lamine Yamal, Vitinha, and the current holder of the trophy, Ousmane Dembélé. Lionel Messi deserves a separate mention, as the source claims he is competing for his ninth Ballon d'Or. ### PSG — the Most Represented Club The largest representation among the nominees is held, according to the publication, by the current Champions League winner — Parisian PSG. The Parisian club is represented by as many as nine players, among them summer signing Ferran Torres, who, as noted in the article, scored the decisive goal in the World Cup final. Such a concentration of representatives from a single club in the top list underscores the team's collective success last season and its influence on the individual race for the award. ### Contradictory Data When comparing versions from different publications, discrepancies in the exact composition of the list are noted. Thus, Sport Express emphasizes in its headline that Messi, Yamal, Dembélé, Kane, and Kvara茨khelia made it into the top 30, and also notes the absence of Cristiano Ronaldo and Rafinha from the list — meanwhile, Khvicha Kvara茨khelia is not mentioned in the main text of Sport RBC.UA. In addition, in the Sport RBC.UA article PSG is named the current Champions League winner, while Ferran Torres's decisive goal is linked to the World Cup final, which appears as an inconsistency in the wording and may indicate an error in the original source. Both versions are presented openly; the final and complete top-30 list is recommended to be verified against the official France Football website. ### Women's Football and Other Categories In addition to the main men's award, the organizers announced candidates in other categories as well. At the London ceremony, prizes will also be awarded to representatives of women's football, continuing France Football's line of equal coverage of both competitions. The results of all nominations will be known on October 26, when the anniversary award ceremony will take place in London. ## 🔍 Fact-Check Verification - [Kane, Mbappé, Messi and others: the full list of 2026 Ballon d'Or candidates announced](https://sport.rbc.ua/ukr/football/keyn-mbappe-messi-ta-inshi-ogolosheno-povniy-1788934071.html) - Базовый источник: юбилей 70 лет, церемония в Лондоне 26.10, фаворит Кейн (73 гола), 9 игроков ПСЖ, Торрес. - [France Football announces the 2026 Ballon d'Or nominees: Messi, Mbappé and Dembélé on the list](https://4esnok.by/novosti/france-football-obyavil-nominantov-na-zolotoj-myach-2026-messi-mbappe-i-dembele-v-spiske/) - Подтверждает наличие Месси, Мбаппе, Дембеле в списке номинантов. - [With Messi, but without Ronaldo and Rafinha. France Football publishes the list of Ballon d'Or candidates](https://www.sport-express.ru/football/foreign/reviews/zhurnal-france-football-obyavil-nominantov-na-zolotoy-myach-2026-v-top-30-popali-messi-yamal-dembele-keyn-kvaracheliya-i-drugie-2453608/) - Упоминает Кварацхелию в топ-30 и отсутствие Роналду/Рафиньи — расхождение с основным текстом по составу. - [France Football announces the list of 2026 Ballon d'Or nominees](https://www.livesport.ru/football/2026/09/08/golden-ball/) - Подтверждает факт объявления списка номинантов на 2026 год. ## ❓ FAQ ### Q: When and where will the 2026 Ballon d'Or ceremony take place? **A:** The ceremony will be held on October 26 in London — for the first time outside France, in memory of Stanley Matthews, the first recipient of the award. ### Q: Who is the main favorite for the 2026 Ballon d'Or? **A:** According to Sport RBC.UA, the main favorite is Harry Kane of Bayern Munich, who scored 73 goals for his club and national team last season. ### Q: Which club is represented by the largest number of players in the list? **A:** The current Champions League winner PSG, for which as many as nine nominees play, including Ferran Torres. ### Q: Are there discrepancies between the lists of different publications? **A:** Yes: Sport Express mentions Kvara茨khelia in the top 30 and the absence of Ronaldo and Rafinha, which is not in the Sport RBC.UA text; the latter also has an inconsistency in the wording about the World Cup final.