Ballon d'Or 2026 Voting Criteria Revealed

The three main criteria that will guide voting for the 2026 Ballon d'Or have been confirmed as the race for football's most prestigious individual award enters its final stage.

France Football's voting framework places emphasis on three key areas: individual performance, collective success and sportsmanship.

1. Individual performance

The first criterion focuses on a player's individual performances, decisiveness and overall influence. Voters are expected to consider how strongly a player performed and how much impact they had on matches throughout the season.

2. Collective success

Team achievements also form a major part of the assessment. The trophies won by a player's club and national team, as well as the player's contribution to those successes, are taken into consideration.

3. Sportsmanship and fair play

The third criterion concerns a player's conduct, with sportsmanship, class and fair play forming part of the evaluation.

The 2026 voting process comes after a season featuring several outstanding individual and team campaigns. Harry Kane, Kylian Mbappé, Lamine Yamal, Rodri, Erling Haaland, Lionel Messi and defending champion Ousmane Dembélé are among the 30 nominees for the men's award.

The voting is being conducted by an international jury of journalists, with one representative from each of the top 100 nations in the FIFA men's world ranking. Each voter selects 10 players from the 30-man shortlist and awards them points according to their ranking.

The 2026 Ballon d'Or ceremony will take place in London on October 26, when the successor to Dembélé will be crowned.

With individual brilliance, team success and sportsmanship all forming part of the assessment, the criteria provide the framework for voters to decide who had the strongest overall season.