What is confirmed
The 2026 Ballon d'Or ceremony will be held in London on 26 October. UEFA announced the date and city on 28 May 2026. It is the 70th edition of the award France Football created in 1956, and the first time the ceremony has been staged in London.
UEFA said the choice of city pays tribute to Sir Stanley Matthews, the first winner, 70 years earlier.
The award is presented by France Football (L'Équipe Group) and has been co-organised with UEFA since 2024. Official notices sit on ballondor.com.
Who holds it now
The 2025 men's Ballon d'Or went to Ousmane Dembélé (France, Paris Saint-Germain). The 2025 women's Ballon d'Or went to Aitana Bonmatí (Spain, Barcelona). UEFA published both results on 22–23 September 2025.
Those are last year's winners. They are not this year's.
How the vote works
UEFA's official 2025 results page sets out the method. An international jury of specialised journalists votes — one from each of the top 100 FIFA-ranked nations for the men's award, and the top 50 for the women's.
Each juror picks ten players from a 30-name list, in order. Those ten get 15, 12, 10, 8, 7, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 point.
That is last year's published method. If France Football changes it for 2026, the official announcement is the source — not this paragraph.
What last year's vote actually looked like
The 2025 ceremony was at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris on 22 September 2025 — the 69th edition, covering the 2024/25 season. UEFA published the points.
Men's Ballon d'Or 2025: 1. Ousmane Dembélé (France, Paris Saint-Germain) 1,380. 2. Lamine Yamal (Spain, Barcelona) 1,059. 3. Vitinha (Portugal, Paris Saint-Germain) 703. 4. Mohamed Salah (Egypt, Liverpool) 657. 5. Raphinha (Brazil, Barcelona) 620. 6. Achraf Hakimi (Morocco, Paris Saint-Germain) 484. 7. Kylian Mbappé (France, Real Madrid) 378. 8. Cole Palmer (England, Chelsea) 211. 9. Gianluigi Donnarumma (Italy, Paris Saint-Germain / Manchester City) 172. 10. Nuno Mendes (Portugal, Paris Saint-Germain) 171.
Women's Ballon d'Or 2025: Aitana Bonmatí (Spain, Barcelona) 506, ahead of Mariona Caldentey (Spain, Arsenal) 478 and Alessia Russo (England, Arsenal) 420.
Those numbers are last year. They are not a 2026 ranking.
What this page will not do
The 2026 winners have not been announced. UEFA's May note said the list of nominees would be communicated in due course. As of 19 August 2026, BRYME is not copying a newspaper power ranking or a fan shortlist onto this page.
We will not tell you who "really deserves" the award. We will not invent a 30-name list. If France Football or UEFA publish an official shortlist, that is when names belong here.
A World Cup summer sits inside the 2025/26 season this award covers. That will matter to voters. It does not let us name a winner in August.
What to open next on BRYME
The last tournament that will sit in voters' minds is already written up: Spain beat Argentina 1-0 after extra time in the 2026 World Cup final. The Premier League season that started last week is on its own pages.
We have also published our own editorial ranking of the race — clearly labelled as BRYME's view, not France Football's. It is a prediction. It is not the official 30.
Come back to this briefing when there is an official list, or a result.