The Ballon d'Or is in London tonight, for the first time, and the favourite to walk out of the Palladium with it is an Englishman who left the Premier League three years ago. Harry Kane, 33, captain of England and the centre forward of Bayern Munich, is the bookmakers' pick to become the first English winner since Michael Owen in 2001.
France Football and UEFA stage the 70th ceremony at the London Palladium. Rankings begin this afternoon. The men's winner is due late in the evening. The choice of city is a nod to Sir Stanley Matthews, the inaugural winner in 1956. Kane would complete a circle that has taken seven decades.
The case for the England captain
The numbers attached to Kane since the start of last season are the ones his supporters want read out: 89 goals for club and country in 81 appearances. He has made extraordinary finishing look ordinary, which is both his claim and the argument used against him. Lamine Yamal has said the prize should go to "someone different, someone we have enjoyed watching, who has that magic", and that it is "not to do with the sheer number of goals".
Kane does not arrive with a European club trophy from the season under review. That gap is real, and his rivals have spent the month pointing at it. What he does arrive with is a body of scoring that no other nominee has matched, in a Bayern shirt and with the England armband. If the award is for the outstanding individual, his camp's case is that the individual was him.
Yamal, Mbappe, and a shortlist built for an argument
Yamal is the romantic vote and, at 19, the most gifted player on the shortlist. He won La Liga and the World Cup with Spain and contributed more than 40 goals and assists for Barcelona. A win for him would be a coronation rather than a lifetime award. No serious observer would call it a robbery.
Kylian Mbappe is 27, the World Cup's record scorer, and still without a Ballon d'Or. He did not win a trophy with Real Madrid or France in the season being judged, and he has campaigned anyway, including a promise to dedicate the prize to Africa if he wins. There are 20 African journalists among the 100 voters, one from each of the leading football nations. The politics of the ballot are not a side issue. They are the ballot.
The 30-man list also includes Erling Haaland, Jude Bellingham, Declan Rice, Lionel Messi, the holder Ousmane Dembele, and Rodri, the 2024 winner. Three former men's winners are on it: Messi, Dembele and Rodri. Last year's women's winner was Aitana Bonmati. The women's prize is part of the same night.
Ballon d'Or 2026: the Night in Brief
- Venue: the London Palladium. The ceremony is the first staged in London.
- It is the 70th edition, and a tribute to Sir Stanley Matthews, the 1956 winner.
- Harry Kane is favourite to be the first English winner since Michael Owen in 2001.
- Lamine Yamal and Kylian Mbappe are the closest challengers in a field of 30.
- One hundred journalists, from the top 100 football nations, cast the votes.
A season that belonged to teams
The awkward truth about 2025-26 is that the great prizes were collective. Spain won the World Cup with Rodri as the quiet metronome. Paris Saint-Germain won the Champions League without a single galactico carrying them. Arsenal won the Premier League, and it was hard to name one outstanding player, which is another way of saying the team was the point. This weekend Arsenal moved level with Manchester City at the top of the new season, a reminder that the award looks backward while the league has already moved on.
London has the theatre, the history and, in Kane, the local claim. It does not have a result until late. For the league table the award will not change, read how matchweek eight left City, Arsenal and Manchester United.