The 2026 Ballon d'Or nominees will be announced on September 8, 2026. The organisers have confirmed that the shortlists for every category will be unveiled on that date. The two main awards will each feature 30 names, and the ceremony is scheduled for October 26 in London. As of September 1, however, the official confirmation does not give a specific time for the publication of the lists.
When will the 2026 Ballon d'Or nominees be announced?
The official date is September 8, 2026. Ballon d'Or itself confirmed the announcement on August 31 and directed fans to Ballondor.com for the reveal. The official article says the shortlists for every category will be unveiled on September 8, but it does not set a publication time or say that all lists will appear simultaneously.
That distinction matters because, before that date, media favourites, projected rankings and predicted nominee lists are not the official shortlist. The definitive reference is the list released by the organisers.
How many nominees will each category have?
The August 31 announcement also set the size of every shortlist. Both Ballon d'Or awards will have 30 players, while the other categories range from five to ten nominees.
| Category | Shortlist size |
|---|---|
| Men's Ballon d'Or | 30 players |
| Women's Ballon d'Or | 30 players |
| Men's Young Talent of the Year | 10 players |
| Women's Young Talent of the Year | 5 players |
| Men's Goalkeeper of the Year | 10 players |
| Women's Goalkeeper of the Year | 5 players |
| Men's Coach of the Year | 5 coaches |
| Women's Coach of the Year | 5 coaches |
| Men's Striker of the Year | 10 players |
| Women's Striker of the Year | 5 players |
| Men's Club of the Year | 5 clubs |
| Women's Club of the Year | 5 clubs |
Those figures were published by the organisers in “The Ballon d’Or 2026: Unveiling of nominees imminent!”. The category wording above follows the descriptions used in that official announcement.
2026 Ballon d'Or calendar through the ceremony
- September 8: shortlists for every category are unveiled.
- After the announcement: the voting stage described by the organisers begins for the main men's and women's awards.
- October 26: the 2026 Ballon d'Or ceremony takes place in London and the winners are revealed.
The publicly confirmed schedule is therefore straightforward: nominees in September, awards in October. The August 31 announcement does not publish an open timetable with an announcement hour, a voting deadline or a category-by-category release sequence. If those details are announced later, they should be treated as updates rather than information already confirmed.
What happens after September 8?
Once the 30-name men's and women's Ballon d'Or shortlists are known, an international jury of journalists enters the process. According to the official explanation, the men's panel has one representative from each country among the top 100 nations in the FIFA Men's World Ranking, while the women's panel has one representative from each country among the top 50 in the FIFA Women's World Ranking.
Each juror ranks ten players from the shortlist. First place receives 15 points, with the score decreasing down to tenth. The organisers list three criteria, in order: individual performance and decisive impact, collective performance and trophies, and class and fair play. The accumulated votes determine the winners announced on October 26.
This helps separate two stages that are often blurred together: being nominated means making the official shortlist; winning depends on the voting that follows.
How to follow the announcement without confusing rumours with the official list
On September 8, the safest place to check the nominees is the official Ballon d'Or website. The organisers themselves pointed to that channel for the reveal. Clubs, federations and news outlets may quickly republish the names, but the official list is the reference for confirming a nominee and the category in which they appear.
Because the consulted announcement does not yet give an official time, claims such as “the nominees will be released at X o'clock” need a newer confirmation. A predicted favourite also cannot be treated as a confirmed nominee before the shortlist is published.
Why is the ceremony in London?
The 2026 edition is the 70th Ballon d'Or and will be staged in London for the first time. The decision was announced in May by the organisers and UEFA as a tribute to Stanley Matthews, the inaugural 1956 winner. The date and host city are confirmed on both the Ballon d'Or website and UEFA.
The key dates at a glance
September 8, 2026: the official nominee lists for every category are released. The men's and women's Ballon d'Or shortlists each contain 30 names. October 26, 2026: the winners are revealed at the ceremony in London. As of the official August 31 update, no announcement time had been published for September 8.
