Ballon d’Or 2026: Three African Players Nominated for the Men’s Award

Africa will have three representatives in the running for the 2026 Men’s Ballon d’Or, with Morocco’s Achraf Hakimi, Senegal’s Sadio Mané and Algeria’s Ibrahim Maza included among the 30 nominees.

The 2026 Ballon d’Or ceremony is scheduled to take place on Monday, October 26, 2026, in London, England.

The ceremony will be held at The London Palladium, where the winners of the men’s and women’s Ballon d’Or and the other individual awards will be announced.

Full List of 2026 Men’s Ballon d’Or Nominees

• 🏴 Jude Bellingham
• 🇪🇸 Pau Cubarsí
• 🇪🇸 Marc Cucurella
• 🇫🇷 Ousmane Dembélé
• 🇨🇴 Luis Díaz
• 🇵🇹 Bruno Fernandes
• 🇧🇷 Gabriel
• 🇳🇴 Erling Haaland
• 🇲🇦 Achraf Hakimi
• 🏴 Harry Kane
• 🇬🇪 Khvicha Kvaratskhelia
• 🇪🇸 Lamine Yamal
• 🇸🇳 Sadio Mané
• 🇧🇷 Marquinhos
• 🇦🇷 Lautaro Martínez
• 🇫🇷 Kylian Mbappé
• 🇵🇹 Nuno Mendes
• 🇦🇷 Lionel Messi
• 🇵🇹 João Neves
• 🇫🇷 Michael Olise
• 🇪🇨 Willian Pacho
• 🇲🇽 Julián Quiñones
• 🏴 Declan Rice
• 🇪🇸 Rodri
• 🇪🇸 Fabián Ruiz
• 🇫🇷 William Saliba
• 🇪🇸 Ferran Torres
• 🇫🇷 Dayot Upamecano
• 🇧🇷 Vinícius Jr.
• 🇵🇹 Vitinha