When is the 2026 Ballon d’Or, who are the favourites, and how can you watch it?

The Ballon d’Or, football’s most prestigious individual honour, will be awarded on Monday, with Harry Kane, Lamine Yamal and Kylian Mbappe among the frontrunners in the men’s category and Spain’s Alexia Putellas the favourite to pick the women’s award for the third time.

Given to the best player of the 2025-26 season, the upcoming ceremony will mark the award’s 70th edition, and the first time it is held outside France.

Ahead of Monday’s official gala, here’s everything to know about the award, its history and more:

What is the Ballon d’Or?

The Ballon d’Or is the highest individual award given to a footballer, based on his or her performance in the previous season.

The award was created in 1956 by two sports writers, Gabriel Hanot and Jacques Ferran, from France Football, a French magazine.

Originally, the men’s award was limited to European players, but in 1995 it was expanded to include all players of any origin active at European clubs. Finally, in 2007, it became a global award with all professional footballers being eligible.

The women’s Ballon d’Or started in 2018 when Ada Hegerberg was named the inaugural winner.

The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and Groupe Amaury – owners of France Football and L’Equipe – have co-organised the Ballon d’Or since the 2024 edition.

Who decides the Ballon d’Or winner?

The winner is chosen by an international jury of specialised journalists, with one representative per country: the top 100 nations according to the FIFA rankings for the men’s award, and the top 50 for the women’s award.

The FIFA ranking used is the one in effect at the time the nominee lists were published, which in this case was on September 8, 2026.

How does the voting work?

Each jury member selects 10 players in descending order of merit from a 30-player shortlist.

The list is then compiled by the editorial staff of France Football, members of L’Equipe’s editorial team, at least one member of the previous edition’s jury, and UEFA ambassadors Luis Figo and Fabio Capello for the men’s trophy, and Nadine Kessler for the women’s trophy.

The 10 selected players receive 15, 12, 10, 8, 7, 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1 point respectively, based on the order of their rankings in the voting.

In the end, the Ballon d’Or is awarded to the player with the highest overall score.

What’s the voting criteria?

Players are judged for their performances over the whole of last season. For this year’s award, the timeline is from August 3, 2025, until July 19, 2026.

Jurors are asked to take three factors into consideration when ranking players. The Ballon d’Or regulations list the following in order of importance:

1. Individual performances, decisive and impressive character
2. Collective performances and titles won
3. Class and fair play

Who is the favourite to win?

In the men’s category, England’s captain Kane, who scored an incredible 73 goals last season, is the bookmakers’ favourite to win the Ballon d’Or. As of Sunday, he holds about 70 percent of the market share.

Kane was the Bundesliga’s top scorer for the third year running and also earned a second European Golden Shoe. The 33-year-old won the Bundesliga with Bayern Munich, and led England to a third-place finish at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Frenchman Mbappe, who won the Golden Boot at the World Cup and set an all-time goals record, is the second favourite, followed by teenage winger Lamine Yamal, who was part of Spain’s world title-winning squad.

The men’s 30-player star-studded shortlist also features Argentina’s 2022 World Cup winner Lionel Messi and the last two Ballon d’Or recipients, Ousmane Dembele and Rodri.

Who could win the Ballon d’Or Feminin?

For the women’s Ballon d’Or, Spain captain Alexia Putellas is the frontrunner after leading her previous club Barcelona to quadruple glory, which included the Liga F and Women’s Champions League crowns.

Putellas, who won the Ballon d’Or in 2021 and 2022, is hoping to match teammate and reigning winner Aitana Bonmati’s record of three trophies.

Manchester City’s Khadija Shaw, the Women’s Super League top scorer for a third campaign in a row, Barca’s Ewa Pajor, the women’s UCL top scorer, and Lyon’s Melchie Dumornay, who won a domestic treble, are also in the running.

Where and when is the Ballon d’Or ceremony?

The 2026 Ballon d’Or ceremony will be held at the London Palladium on Monday, October 26, marking the first time it is being held in Britain.

Organisers said the decision to move the ceremony away from France, its usual host country, was made to pay tribute to the 1956 inaugural Ballon d’Or winner, England’s Stanley Matthews.

The red carpet will begin at 18:00 GMT and last for about an hour and a half.

It will be followed by the official ceremony at 20:00 GMT. France and Arsenal striker Thierry Henry and sports journalist Kate Scott will be the cohosts.

US rapper French Montana and English singer Jorja Smith will perform at the gala.

Where can I watch the ceremony and follow it online?

Al Jazeera Sport will have live coverage of the awards ceremony from 17:00 GMT.

DAZN will livestream the ceremony for free in most countries. Also, viewers in France can watch the ceremony on L’Equipe TV, while Telefonica will televise it in Spain.

Who has won the most Ballon d’Or awards?

Argentine legend Lionel Messi has a record eight Ballon d’Or awards in his trophy cabinet. He also holds the record for the most consecutive wins (four), taking the trophy home in 2009-2012.

His longtime rival, Cristiano Ronaldo, is second on the list, with five Ballon d’Ors.

France and Paris Saint-Germain forward Dembele won the 2025 Ballon d’Or, while Spain’s captain Rodri was the 2024 winner.

Which other awards are given at the Ballon d’Or?

A total of 13 awards will be presented on Monday, including the men’s and women’s Ballon d’Ors.

• Men’s and women’s Ballon d’Or
• Men’s and women’s Kopa Trophy (for U-21 players)
• Men’s and women’s Yashin Trophy (for best goalkeeper)
• Men’s and women’s Gerd Muller Trophy (for best striker)
• Men’s and women’s Johan Cruyff Trophy (for best coach)
• Men’s and women’s Club of the Year
• Socrates Award (for humanitarian work, charity projects, and social solidarity initiatives)