Ballon d’Or race heats up ahead London ceremony

What's happened

The 70th Ballon d’Or is set to be awarded in London on October 26. Kane, Bellingham, and Rice headline the men’s shortlist, with Messi and Mbappé among others on the list. The ceremony marks a milestone anniversary; the competition has featured a global lineup and continues to spark debate over the year’s standout performers.

What's behind the headline?

Context and momentum

• Kane is highlighted as the favourite in multiple outlets, with a strong club season at Bayern and notable World Cup performances.
• The field blends established stars (Messi, Mbappé, Kane) with rising talents (Yamal, Olise).
• World Cup performances continue to shape candidacies despite club-level achievements.

What’s driving coverage now

• The 70th anniversary ceremony in London is a focal point, with historical prestige and a symbolic venue honoring Stanley Matthews.
• Media outlets contrast club success vs. international impact in weighing candidates.

Reader takeaways

• Expect fierce competition among a mix of veterans and young talents.
• The ceremony will be a barometer for who defined global football in the past year.

How we got here

The Ballon d’Or celebrates its 70th edition, with a ceremony in London. Nominations include Kane, Bellingham, and Rice for the men’s award, and Putellas, Bonmati, and others for the women’s. The list spans clubs from Bayern Munich to Barcelona, PSG to Inter Miami, and features players from Europe, the Americas, and beyond.

Our analysis

The Independent, The Guardian, France 24, BBC Sport, The Scotsman, France 24 again, The Guardian again, BBC Business, Independent additional, BBC Business second, The Guardian Women nominees list, France 24 women nominees list.

Go deeper

• Who is your pick for the Ballon d’Or this year and why?
• Do club trophies or World Cup performances carry more weight in this year’s ballot?
• How will the London venue influence voters this year?

More on these topics

• Harry Kane - Footballer

  Harry Edward Kane MBE is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur and captains the England national team. He has been selected for the PFA Team of the Year four times.

• London - Capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom

  London is the capital and largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of 9.1 million people in 2024. Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Western Europe, with a population of 15.1 million. London stands on the River...

• Lionel Messi - Footballer

  Lionel Andrés Messi Cuccittini is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward and captains both Spanish club Barcelona and the Argentina national team.

• Jude Bellingham - Footballer

  Jude Victor William Bellingham is an English footballer who plays as a midfielder for Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund. Bellingham joined Birmingham City as an under-8, became the club's youngest ever first-team player when he made his senior debut in Au

• England - Country of the United Kingdom

  England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest of England and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by

• Arsenal F.C. - Football club

  Arsenal Football Club is a professional football club based in Islington, London, England, that plays in the Premier League, the top flight of English football.

• Erling Haaland - Norwegian footballer

  Erling Braut Haaland is a Norwegian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund and the Norway national team.

• Lamine Yamal - Spanish footballer

  Lamine Yamal Nasraoui Ebana is a Spanish professional footballer from Catalonia who plays as a right winger for La Liga club Barcelona and the Spain national team. He is regarded as one of the best young talents in the world.

• Spain - Country

  Spain, officially the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southwestern Europe with some pockets of territory across the Strait of Gibraltar and the Atlantic Ocean. Its continental European territory is situated on the Iberian Peninsula.

• Alexia Putellas - Spanish footballer

  Alexia Putellas Segura is a Spanish footballer who plays for Barcelona and the Spain national team. She has played in the Champions League, won four league titles and two Spanish cups with Barcelona. She previously played for RCD Espanyol and Levante UD.

• Manchester City Football Club - Football club

  Manchester City Football Club is an English football club based in Manchester that competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. Founded in 1880 as St. Mark's, it became Ardwick Association Football Club in 1887 and Manchester City i

• Alessia Russo - Footballer

  Alessia Mia Teresa Russo is an English footballer who plays as a forward for Manchester United in the FA Women's Super League and the England national team.

• Inter Miami CF - American professional soccer club based in Miami

  Club Internacional de Fútbol Miami (lit. 'Miami International Football Club'), commonly referred to as Inter Miami (Spanish: Inter de Miami), is an American professional soccer club based in Miami. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Since April 2026, Inter Miami play their home matches at Nu Stadium, having played at Chase Stadium prior. On January 29, 2018, MLS officially approved an expansion team in Miami. The club garnered international attention prior to their founding because of co-owner David Beckham, and again in 2023 with the signing of Lionel Messi on a free transfer. Since the team began playing in the 2020 season, the club has signed several other high-profile players such as Blaise Matuidi, Gonzalo Higuaín, Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba, Luis Suárez, Rodrigo De Paul, Sergio Reguilón, and Germán Berterame. Following Messi's debut, the club won their first major trophy, the 2023 Leagues Cup, which also qualified the team to the 2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup for the first time. In the 2024 season, Inter Miami secured their first Supporters' Shield, which qualified the club to the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup as hosts. The team's estimated...

• Alex Greenwood - Footballer

  Alex Greenwood is an English footballer who plays for Manchester City in the FA Women's Super League and the England national team. Mainly a left-back, she can also play as a centre-back and is considered to be a set-piece specialist.

• Khvicha Kvaratskhelia - Georgian footballer

  Khvicha Kvaratskhelia is a Georgian professional footballer who plays as a winger for Russian Premier League side Rubin Kazan and the Georgia national team.

• Chelsea Football Club - Football club

  Chelsea Football Club are an English professional football club based in Fulham, London. Founded in 1905, the club competes in the Premier League, the top division of English football.

• Futbol Club Barcelona - Football club

  Futbol Club Barcelona, commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça, is a Spanish professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.

• FC Bayern Munich - Club

  Fußball-Club Bayern München e.V., commonly known as FC Bayern München, FCB, Bayern Munich, or FC Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria.

• Khadija Shaw - Jamaican association football player

  Khadija Monifa "Bunny" Shaw ( khə-DEE-jə; born 31 January 1997) is a Jamaican professional footballer who plays as a forward for Women's Super League club Manchester City and captains the Jamaica women's national team. Widely considered to be one of the best strikers in the world, she is Manchester City's all-time top goalscorer, Jamaica's all-time top goalscorer, holds the record for most hat tricks in the WSL, and was awarded CONCACAF Player of the Year in 2022. Shaw previously played for Division 1 club Bordeaux, became top scorer in the 2020–21 season, and was twice awarded Player of the Month. With Manchester City, she is a League Cup winner and was voted Player of the Season for the club as top scorer in the 2022–23 season. For the same season, Shaw was named in the WSL Team of the Year, and twice awarded WSL Player of the Month. The following season, she was named FWA Women's Footballer of the Year.

• Paris Saint-Germain - Football club

  Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain, Paris SG, or simply Paris or PSG, is a French professional football club based in Paris. They compete in Ligue 1, the top division of French football.

• Caroline Weir - Scottish footballer

  Caroline Elspeth Lillias Weir is a Scottish footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or forward for Manchester City of the FA WSL, and the Scotland women's national team.

• Olympique Lyonnais - Football club

  Olympique Lyonnais, commonly referred to as simply Lyon or OL, is a French professional football club based in Lyon in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, it plays in France's highest football division, Ligue 1. The club was established in 1950.

• Barcelona - City in Catalonia, Spain

  Barcelona is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.7 million within city limits, its urban area extends to numerous neighbouring municipalities within the province of Barcelona and is home to around 5.7 million people, making it the fifth most populous urban area of the European Union after Paris, the Ruhr area, Madrid and Milan. It is one of the largest metropolises on the Mediterranean Sea, located on the coast between the mouths of the rivers Llobregat and Besòs, bounded to the west by the Serra de Collserola mountain range. According to tradition, Barcelona was founded by either the Phoenicians or the Carthaginians, who had trading posts along the Catalonian coast. In the Middle Ages, Barcelona became the capital of the County of Barcelona. After joining with the Kingdom of Aragon to form the composite monarchy of the Crown of Aragon, Barcelona, which continued to be the capital of the Principality of Catalonia, became the most important city in the Crown of Aragon and its main economic and administrative centre, only...

• Declan Rice - English footballer

  Declan Rice is an English professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder or centre back for Premier League club West Ham United and the England national team.

• France - Country in Europe

  France, officially the French Republic, is a country consisting of metropolitan France in Western Europe and several overseas regions and territories.

• The Guardian - Newspaper

  The Guardian is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as The Manchester Guardian, and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers The Observer and The Guardian Weekly, The Guardian is part of the Guardian Media Group, owned by the S

• Ewa Pajor - Football forward

  Ewa Pajor is a Polish football striker, currently playing for VfL Wolfsburg. She is the youngest player to have played in the highest Polish women league, in the Ekstraliga, at the age of 15 and 133 days.

• Real Madrid Club de Fútbol - Football club

  Real Madrid Club de Fútbol, commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded on 6 March 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally worn a white home kit since inception.

• Scotland - Country of the United Kingdom

  Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a 96 mile border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and w

• Cristiano Ronaldo - Portuguese footballer

  Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro GOIH ComM is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward for Serie A club Juventus and captains the Portugal national team.

• France Football - Magazine

  France Football is a French weekly magazine containing football news from all over the world. It is considered to be one of the most reputable sports publications in Europe, mostly because of its photographic reports, in-depth and exclusive interviews and

• William Saliba - French footballer

  William Alain André Gabriel Saliba is a French professional footballer who plays as a defender for Marseille, on loan from English club Arsenal.

• Ferran Torres - Spanish footballer

  Ferran Torres García is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for Premier League club Manchester City as a right winger. He has represented Spain internationally at various youth levels.

• Kylian Mbappé - French footballer

  Kylian Mbappé Lottin is a French professional footballer who plays as a forward for Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain and the France national team.