Ballon d'Or 2026: PSG favourite for Club of the Year award, nominees unveiled

The nominees for the 70th Ballon d’Or were unveiled on Tuesday, July 8 across twelve categories, from the Men’s Ballon d’Or (30 players) to Club of the Year, including women’s trophies, goalkeepers and coaches.

On the men’s club side, five finalists are in contention: Arsenal, Bayern Munich, Bodø/Glimt, Flamengo and PSG. Crowned last year, Paris are strong favourites for back-to-back titles after winning the UEFA Champions League again. On the women’s side, the five nominated clubs are FC Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Club América, Manchester City and Olympique Lyonnais — Arsenal, 2025 winners, are therefore not among the contenders this year.

The ceremony will take place outside Paris for the first time: the gala will be held in London on Monday, October 26. The date falls during an international window, which will force notably Ousmane Dembélé, Kylian Mbappé and Michael Olise — cited among the favourites — to temporarily leave the France team, which will face Turkey in the UEFA Nations League the day before, during Zinédine Zidane’s first match on the France bench.

The Ballon d’Or jury is composed of journalists from the top 100 nations in the FIFA men’s world rankings and the top 50 in the women’s rankings. Each member must rank their ten favourites according to three criteria: decisive individual performances, collective results and trophies won, and class as well as fair play on and off the pitch. Points are awarded from 15 for the first choice to 1 for the tenth.