Vini and Messi in the running! See the 2026 Ballon d'Or nominees 🎖️ | OneFootball

France Football released this Tuesday (8) the nominees for the 2026 Ballon d'Or.

After a great FIFA World Cup, Lionel Messi will once again compete for the award he has won 8 times.

Vinícius Júnior will be Brazil’s main representative in the race, which also features other big names such as Ousmane Dembélé – the current Ballon d'Or holder –, Rodri – another previous winner –, as well as Erling Haaland, Michael Olise, Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham, Lamine Yamal and, of course, Kylian Mbappé.

Among the Brazilians, Arsenal center-back Gabriel Magalhães and PSG’s Marquinhos will also be in contention.

One big surprise was the absence of Raphinha from the nominees.

But the Barcelona star, who started the season on fire, is not the only notable omission among the 30 names competing for the award.

Bradley Barcola and Desiré Doué were also left out, joining the list of absentees, as did Cristiano Ronaldo.

Check out the 30 players who will compete for the award below:

The Ballon d'Or awards ceremony will be held on October 26 in the city of London.

As this marks the 70th edition of the event, the organizers chose to move the venue from Paris, its usual home, to England.

The goal of this change is to pay tribute to England’s Stanley Matthews, former Blackpool player and the very first winner of the trophy in its inaugural year, 1956.

Best coaches

As for the coaches, Spanish football secured six of the ten total nominations.

There are four representatives among the five nominees in men’s football and two more in the women’s category.

Starting with the women’s football category, the nominees are: Jonatan Giráldez (OL Lyonnes); Andrée Jeglertz (Manchester City); Nils Nielsen (Japan national team coach); Pere Romeu (FC Barcelona); and Elena Sadiku (Celtic/BK Häcken). Giráldez and Pere Romeu represent Spain, while Jeglertz and Elena Sadiku are from Sweden, and Nielsen is a Dane born in Greenland.

As for the contenders for Men’s Coach of the Year, the nominees are: Mikel Arteta (Arsenal); Luis de la Fuente (Spain national team coach); Unai Emery (Aston Villa); Vincent Kompany (Bayern Munich); and Luis Enrique (PSG). In this category, Belgium’s Vincent Kompany is the only one to break Spain’s dominance.

Flamengo among the best

Flamengo is among the five teams nominated for the 2026 Club of the Year award.

The Rubro-Negro is competing alongside European football powerhouses such as Paris Saint-Germain, Arsenal and Bayern Munich, as well as the surprise Norwegian side Bodø/Glimt.

Vozinha in the running for award

As for the goalkeepers, Vozinha, one of the standout players of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, will be in contention.

The Cape Verdean player will compete against Argentina’s Emiliano Martínez, who has already won the award twice; Unai Simón, voted the best goalkeeper of the World Cup; and Matvey Safonov, a name well known to Brazilian fans due to his performance in the Club World Cup final against Flamengo.

Best young player

Women’s Football

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.

📸 FRANCK FIFE - AFP or licensors