2026 Ballon d’Or Nominees: Harry Kane, Alessia Russo, Bellingham and Rice Included

England footballers, Harry Kane, Declan Rice and Jude Bellingham are among the few players nominated for this year’s Ballon d’Or awards. Alessia Russo and Alex Greenwood have been nominated for the women’s award.

The list of 30 men’s and 30 women’s nominees were revealed by the France Football magazine on Tuesday this week. The winners of the prestigious award will be announced at a ceremony in London, which is scheduled to be held on 26th October. The current holder of the Ballon d’Or award, Ousmane Dembele has also been nominated for this year’s award after his stellar show at the recently concluded Football World Cup in the US.

Along with Dembele, his fellow French teammate, Kylian Mbappe is also among the list of nominees for the award. Mbappe recently during the world cup made history as he overtook Lionel Messi's record of scoring most goals in the world cup. With 22 goals, he is now the highest goal scorer in Football worldcups.

In women’s football, the two-time winner, Alexia Putellas, Melchie Dumornay and Ewa Pajor are among the favourite contenders to win the coveted award and succeed the current holder, Aitanna Bonmati. The winner of the past three awards, Bonmati did not make it to the final list of nominees after she missed playing for most of the season due to her injury.

The Spanish player returned at the end of Barcelona's quadruple-winning season that also included yet another Champions League title. England men’s football captain who guided his team to the third-place victory at the 2026 Football World Cup is one of the top favourites to win the award after he scored a record 61 goals in 51 games for his club Bayern Munich.

During the Football World Cup, Harry Kane found the net six times for England. Rice and Bellingham were also among the top performers and stars for England, whilst Rice played a critical role in Arsenal ending their 22-year long way for the Premier League Title.

Young Spanish football sensation and world cup winner Lamine Yamal who also won the La Liga with Barcelona is the second favourite to be the winner of the prestigious award. Argentine Legend, Lionel Messi who has a record eight Ballon d’Or awards is on the shortlists after he guided his team to the final where they were beaten 1-0 by Spain. He also won Major League Soccer with InterM Miami.

Rusoo, who finished third during the last year’s voting, enjoyed quite a successful individual campaign and she scored 24 goals in her 40 appearances for the club. Manchester City skipper, Alex Greenwood lifted the Women Super League and FA Cup last season.

The Ballon d’ Or ceremony is moving from its traditional home in Paris to London this year to mark the 70th anniversary of the first award won by English greats, Stanley Matthews.