Harry Kane 1st, Lionel Messi 5th: The Ballon d'Or top 30 in full

Analysis

Tom Weber | Writer

The 2026 Ballon d'Or ceremony has come to a close, with Harry Kane and Alexia Putellas scooping the Men's and Women's Ballon d'Or awards.

This edition of football's most prestigious individual prize was handed out in London to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the inaugural Ballon d'Or, which was won by England legend Stanley Matthews in 1956.

It was therefore fitting that Kane became the first Englishman to claim the Ballon d'Or since Michael Owen in 2001, ending a 25-year drought. The Bayern Munich hitman was the frontrunner to win after an incredible 73-goal season for club and country.

He beat out Bayern teammate Michael Olise, Real Madrid striker Kylian Mbappe and Barcelona wonderkid Lamine Yamal, among many other high-profile stars.

Below, FootballTransfers lists the entire men's and women's top 30 rankings of the 2026 Ballon d'Or...

2026 Ballon d'Or ranking

The ceremony belatedly started at 9:45 pm CET at the London Palladium, but France Football had already revealed rankings 30 to 11 well in advance, with the two top 10s revealed during the show.

Arsenal defender William Saliba and Al-Nassr forward Sadio Mane share 29th place. The former helped the Gunners end a decades-long Premier League title drought, while the latter won the Saudi Pro League and captained Senegal to a controversial African Cup of Nations triumph.

Al-Qadsiah and Mexico star Julian Quinones was a surprise inclusion on the Ballon d'Or shortlist after his impressive World Cup, and he comes in at 28th, followed by Premier League Player of the Year Bruno Fernandes of Man Utd in 27th.

Bayern Munich centre-back Dayot Upamecano and winger Luis Diaz rank 26th and 24th, respectively, following a dominant, treble-winning season in Germany. Michael Olise just cracked the top 10, finishing ninth.

Unsurprisingly, back-to-back Champions League winners PSG dominate the top 30, boasting Marquinhos, Nuno Mendes, Willian Pacho, Joao Neves, Vitinha, Achraf Hakimi, Fabian Ruiz, Ousmane Dembele and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.

New PSG signing Ferran Torres makes the list as well, coming in at 16th after scoring the winning goal for Spain in the 2026 World Cup final against Argentina.

Inter striker Lautaro Martinez features in 22nd after bagging 17 goals during the Nerazzurri's Scudetto-winning season. El Toro scored three times at the World Cup, including the winner against England that took Argentina to the final.

Saliba's centre-back partner at Arsenal, Gabriel Magalhaes, occupies 21st after his crucial role - both offensively and defensively - in the Gunners' Premier League domination.

World Cup winner Marc Cucurella, surprisingly tipped to win the Ballon d'Or by former Fulham manager Felix Magath, has only finished 18th. His Real Madrid teammate Vinicius Jr, who has been boycotting the ceremony since his 2024 snub, is in 17th.

Barcelona centre-back sensation Pau Cubarsi ranks 12th, followed by El Clasico rival Jude Bellingham in 11th. The Englishman was expected to place higher after his integral role in the Three Lions winning bronze at the World Cup.

The eternal Lionel Messi came fifth at the age of 39 after winning MLS Cup, becoming the first back-to-back MVP in MLS history and leading Argentina to the 2026 World Cup final.

2024 winner Rodri, fresh off scooping the World Cup Golden Ball, came fourth, behind teammate Lamine Yamal. Kylian Mbappe finished runner-up behind Harry Kane.

On the women's side, Man City are well-represented after breaking Chelsea's stranglehold on the Women's Super League in 2025/26. Vivianne Miedema, Alex Greenwood, Kersin Casparij, Yui Hasegawa and Khadija Shaw have all made the top 30.

UEFA Women's Champions League finalists OL Lyonnes similarly boast several names, with Caroline Weir, Selma Bacha and Wendie Renard recognised as some of the best players in the world.

Miedema, new Chelsea signing Melvine Malard and Lorena received the same number of votes and therefore share 28th.

Just like every year in recent history, UWCL winners Barcelona dominate the top 10, with Claudia Pina, Carolina Graham Hansen, Patri Guijarro and Ewa Pajor.

With Aitana Bonmati not nominated due to injury after her 2023-2025 three-peat, her former Blaugrana teammate Alexia Putellas won the 2026 Women's Ballon d'Or for the third time after 2021 and 2022.

Although she now plays for the London City Lionesses, Alexia won the award for her impressive performances in Barcelona's quadruple-winning season during which she cracked the 500-appearance mark and became the club's second-highest scorer behind only Lionel Messi.

Other awards

In addition to the men's and women's Ballon d'Or, several other coveted awards were handed out at the ceremony in London.

The first winner of the night was, somewhat surprisingly, Lamine Yamal. The Barcelona ace won the Kopa Trophy, given to the best young men's player of the season, for the third consecutive year. It was a sign that he would not win the Ballon d'Or.

The relatively new Women's Young Talent of the Year prize was received by 20-year-old Barcelona attacker Vicky Lopez. Like Yamal, she is a repeat winner, having already claimed the inaugural 2025 edition.

Barcelona Femeni tactician Pere Romeu was named Women's Coach of the Year after leading the Catalans to a quadruple in 2025/26, including the club's fourth UEFA Women's Champions League crown.

The Spanish dominance fittingly continued with Luis de la Fuente, who won Men's Coach of the Year after leading La Roja to the 2026 World Cup title as part of a remarkable 43-game undefeated run.

De la Fuente beat out competition from compatriots Mikel Arteta, Unai Emery, Luis Enrique and Vincent Kompany, the only non-Spaniard to be nominated.

Barcelona shot-stopper Cata Coll and Athletic Club star Unai Simon, Spain's No.1 during the World Cup, were named Women's and Men's Goalkeepers of the Year.

Arsenal forward Bukayo Saka received the Socrates Award for humanitarian efforts in recognition of his long-standing partnership with the BigShoe Medical Charity, which funds treatment for children from disadvantaged regions.

For the third time in the award's four-year existence, Barcelona Femeni were named Women's Club of the Year as they maintained their hegemony over the domestic and international game.

Unsurprisingly - unless you're an Arsenal fan - PSG retained their Men's Club of the Year crown after winning back-to-back Champions Leagues, a domestic Ligue 1 and French Super Cup double, the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Intercontinental Cup.

2025 Ballon d'Or winner Ousmane Dembele collected the award on behalf of the rest of the team, who could not attend due to a scheduling conflict - they beat Lyon 2-0 in a postponed match while the ceremony was happening.

Next up were the Women's and Men's Strikers of the Year awards, which were handed out to Pachuca sharpshooter Charlyn Corral (49 goals) and Bayern Munich hitman Harry Kane (73 goals).

Bizarrely, Corral did not make the top 30 shortlist for the Women's Ballon d'Or, whereas compatriot Scarlett Camberos did. The 35-year-old has been critical of this and believes it is due to the fact that Camberos plays for Club America, a bigger, more popular team than Pachuca.

Written by

Tom Weber | Writer

Tom Weber is an experienced, multilingual sports writer who specialises in European football and American soccer as part of his freelance work for FootballTransfers.

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