Ballon d’Or 2026: Start time, odds, how to watch and nominations in full

The Ballon d'Or ceremony takes place tonight with a men's and women's winner set to be announced in London on Monday 26 October.

England captain and Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane is the favourite, with Spain and Barcelona superstar Lamine Yamal a close second as debate swirls around the biggest individual prize in the sport.

Kane is aiming to be the first English player to win the men's award since Michael Owen in 2001, despite lacking a continental trophy, with the 33-year-old's gluttony for goals and assists positioning him nicely to secure a career-high honour.

Rodri , the Ballon d'Or winner in 2024, won the golden ball at the World Cup after leading Spain to glory while France and Real Madrid star Kylian Mbappe broke the World Cup goalscoring record after hitting an incredible 10 goals across the tournament.

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia , who has since suffered a season-ending knee injury was absent from the World Cup but was arguably the standout player in the men's Champions League last season after inspiring back-to-back titles for Paris Saint-Germain .

The Ballon d'Or ceremony will take place in London on Monday, 26 October , with the event getting underway from 8pm GMT .

You can watch the ceremony on the official website ballondor.com or DAZN , globally, with a free live stream available from both, while Independent Sport will bring you a live blog with updates, reaction and analysis.

Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid and England )

Marc Cucurella ( Chelsea /Real Madrid and Spain)

Ousmane Dembele (Paris Saint-Germain and France)

Luis Diaz ( Bayern Munich and Colombia )

Bruno Fernandes ( Manchester United and Portugal )

Gabriel Magalhaes ( Arsenal and Brazil )

Achraf Hakimi (Paris Saint-Germain and Morocco )

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (Paris Saint-Germain and Georgia)

Marquinhos (Paris Saint-Germain and Brazil)

Nuno Mendes (Paris Saint-Germain and Portugal)

Lionel Messi ( Inter Miami and Argentina)

Joao Neves (Paris Saint-Germain and Portugal)

Michael Olise (Bayern Munich and France)

Willian Pacho (Paris Saint-Germain and Ecuador )

Julian Quinones (Al Qadsiah and Mexico )

Rodri (Manchester City/Barcelona and Spain)

Fabian Ruiz (Barcelona/Paris Saint-Germain and Spain)

Ferran Torres (Barcelona/Paris Saint-Germain and Spain)

Dayot Upamecano ( Bayern Munich and France)

Vitinha (Paris Saint-Germain and Portugal)

Barbra Banda (Orlando Pride and Zambia )

Esmee Brugts (Barcelona and Netherlands )

Scarlett Camberos (Club America and Mexico)

Temwa Chawinga (Kansas City Current and Malawi)

Kerstin Casparij (Manchester City and Netherlands)

Corventina Dumornay (OL Lyonnes and Haiti )

Caroline Graham Hansen (Barcelona and Norway)

Alex Greenwood (Manchester City and England)

Pernille Harder (Bayern Munich and Denmark )

Yui Hasegawa (Manchester City and Japan )

Mapi Leon (Barcelona / London City and Spain)

Lorena Leite (Kansas City Current and Brazil)

Melvine Malard (Manchester Utd / Chelsea and France)

Vivianne Miedema (Manchester City and Netherlands)

Alexia Putellas (Barcelona/London City Lionesses and Spain)

Momoko Tanikawa (Bayern Munich and Japan)

Khadija Shaw (Manchester City and Jamaica )

Caroline Weir (Real Madrid and Scotland )

Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid and Belgium)

Emi Martinez ( Aston Villa /Chelsea and Argentina)

Vozinha (GD Chaves/Colo-Colo and Cape Verde )

Kerim Alajbegovic (RB Salzburg/Juventus/Bosnia & Herzegovina)

Ayyoub Bouaddi (Lille/Manchester City/Morocco)

Yan Diomande (RB Leizig/Real Madrid/Ivory Coast)

Johan Manzambi (Freiburg/Aston Villa/Switzerland)

Felicia Schroder (Real Madrid/BK Hacken/Sweden)