2026 Ballon d’Or: No Italians; Only One Serie A Player Among the 30 Nominees

The list of the 30 players nominated for the 2026 Ballon d’Or has been released: the awards ceremony will take place on Monday, October 26, and for the first time, the event will be held in London at a location yet to be announced. The shortlist released by France Football is notable for the near-total absence of Italian soccer.

In fact, there are no players from Italy on the list of the 30 best players of the year, and among the Serie A stars, only Lautaro Martinez made the cut—he played in the World Cup with Argentina, reaching the final.

Lionel Messi is among the 30, unlike Cristiano Ronaldo. There are six players from world champion Spain and five from France. Among the favorites, in addition to the Argentine legend, are Rodri and Yamal, world champions with Spain; Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who has proven himself to be Paris Saint-Germain’s driving force this season but is penalized for not having played in the 2026 World Cup; Harry Kane, who scored 73 goals in 65 games last year, and the ever-present Mbappé, still chasing his first award. The winner will be determined by a vote among specialized journalists from the top 100 nations in the FIFA rankings.

Here is the complete list of the thirty nominees: Jude Bellingham, Pau Cubarsì, Marc Cucurella, Ousmane Dembélé, Luis Díaz, Bruno Fernandes, Gabriel Magalhães, Erling Haaland, Harry Kane, Achraf Hakimi, 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 Hernández, Fabián Ruiz, Ferran Torres, William Saliba, Dayot Upamecano, Vinícius, Vitinha.