Ballon d'Or 2026 nominees LIVE: Lionel Messi, Lamine Yamal, Harry Kane - Who makes the 30-man shortlist?

France Football is unveiling the 30-man Ballon d'Or shortlist today, with nominees being released crossed authoritative platforms betwixt 11am and 4pm.

A play shaped by the 2026 World Cup has produced aggregate genuine contenders, and the contention for football's biggest idiosyncratic prize has seldom looked truthful wide open.

Find retired who has been nominated with Sports Mole's unrecorded blog below!

Ballon d'Or 2026: Everything you request to know

The 30-man shortlist for the 2026 Ballon d'Or is being confirmed today, up of a ceremonial that carries humanities value beyond the accustomed calendar milestone.

For the archetypal clip successful the award's history, the gala moves retired of Paris, with London hosting the 70th variation connected October 26 arsenic a tribute to inaugural victor Sir Stanley Matthews, who received the archetypal Golden Ball successful 1956.

Rodri is among the aboriginal favourites aft a World Cup summertime that fundamentally changed the signifier of the race.

The Manchester City midfielder was the ascendant fig successful Spain's tally to the planetary title, making 122 line-breaking passes crossed 8 appearances and claiming the tournament's Golden Ball up of Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe.

Harry Kane arrives astatine the statement with 1 of the astir prolific idiosyncratic campaigns the crippled has produced successful surviving memory.

The Bayern Munich striker scored 73 goals successful 65 competitory appearances for nine and state successful 2025-26, a tally bettered lone by Lionel Messi's 82 successful 2011-12 among each players successful the 21st century.

Kane's unrivalled 36 Bundesliga goals earned him a 2nd European Golden Shoe, and helium besides helped Bayern to the league and cupful double.

Lamine Yamal has a lawsuit that goes beyond earthy numbers; the Barcelona winger became the youngest subordinate successful past to diagnostic successful and triumph some a European Championship last and a World Cup final, adding a 2nd large planetary rubric alongside Rodri and Spain's squad. 

Mbappe's statement centres connected a World Cup Golden Boot haul of 10 goals successful North America, a tally that took him past Miroslav Klose and Lionel Messi to go the competition's all-time starring scorer with 22 goals from 22 appearances.

The Real Madrid guardant scored 42 goals during the nine season, though the lack of silverware astatine nine level could measurement against him erstwhile votes are tallied.

Messi, astatine 39, is expected to diagnostic connected the shortlist aft different World Cup afloat of heroics, though decision successful the last appears to person ended his pursuit of a record-extending ninth award.