The 2026 Ballon d\u2019Or shortlists have been published, with both the men\u2019s and women\u2019s prizes now taking shape after the latest nominations were confirmed.<\/p>\n
Lionel Messi is among the leading names on the men\u2019s list as he targets a ninth Ballon d\u2019Or, while 2024 winner Rodri also returns to contention after a Golden Ball-winning summer at the World Cup with Spain. The 30-player men\u2019s shortlist features a heavy concentration of familiar elite names, including Kylian Mbapp\u00e9, Jude Bellingham, Erling Haaland, Harry Kane and Lamine Yamal.<\/p>\n
Paris Saint-Germain are particularly well represented, with 10 nominees among the men\u2019s field. Ousmane Demb\u00e9l\u00e9 is aiming to defend the prize, while Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Achraf Hakimi, Marquinhos, Nuno Mendes, Jo\u00e3o Neves, Willian Pacho, Fabi\u00e1n Ruiz, Vitinha and Lionel Messi all appear on the list. Real Madrid also have a strong presence, with Mbapp\u00e9, Vin\u00edcius J\u00fanior, Bellingham and Marc Cucurella included.<\/p>\n
The women\u2019s shortlist is equally competitive, although injuries have ruled Aitana Bonmat\u00ed out of a chance to claim a fourth straight Ballon d\u2019Or F\u00e9minin. That absence leaves the door open for a first-time winner, or just the fifth different player ever to take the prize. Barcelona remain prominent through Ewa Pajor, Patri Guijarro and Caroline Graham Hansen, while Alexia Putellas is also in the frame after her summer move to London City Lionesses.<\/p>\n
Elsewhere, the Kopa Trophy races include defending men\u2019s winner Lamine Yamal and 2025 women\u2019s winner Vicky L\u00f3pez. The goalkeeper awards feature David Raya, Thibaut Courtois and Joan Garc\u00eda among the men, with Hannah Hampton, Ann-Katrin Berger and Cata Coll back in the women\u2019s contest.<\/p>\n
The coach and club categories are similarly packed. PSG, Arsenal, Bayern Munich, Flamengo and Bod\u00f8\/Glimt are among the men\u2019s club nominees, while Barcelona lead the women\u2019s club conversation alongside Bayern Munich, Man City, OL Lyonnes and Club Am\u00e9rica.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ballon d\u2019Or 2026 shortlists are out, with Messi, Rodri, Yamal and top women\u2019s contenders named.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19301,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[192,1017,1062,238,179,194,1031,987],"tags":[1047,59,180],"class_list":["post-19302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arsenal","category-barcelona","category-bayern-munich","category-manchester-city","category-manchester-united","category-newcastle-united","category-paris-saint-germain","category-real-madrid","tag-champions-league","tag-featured","tag-player-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19302","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19302"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19302\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19301"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}