Dembele Bids to Defend Ballon d’Or Title as Mbappe, Kane and Yamal Headline 30-Man Shortlist
Reigning Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembele headlines this year’s 30-man shortlist for football’s most prestigious individual award, alongside fellow leading contenders Kylian Mbappe, Harry Kane and Lamine Yamal, after France Football magazine revealed the nominees on Tuesday, September 8.
Paris Saint-Germain dominate this year’s nominations, with 10 players from the club making the list, comfortably ahead of the seven representing La Liga clubs and five from the Premier League. Alongside Dembele, PSG’s nominees include Achraf Hakimi, Marquinhos, Nuno Mendes, Willian Pacho, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Joao Neves, Fabian Ruiz, Vitinha and new signing Ferran Torres. Speaking to France Football, Dembele expressed confidence that the award would remain at the club regardless of who ultimately wins it. “I don’t think the trophy is undecided. I think it will remain in the hands of a Paris Saint-Germain player,” he said. Asked to name his own top three contenders in no particular order, Dembele pointed to teammate Kvaratskhelia, along with Kane and Mbappe, notably leaving both Yamal and Rodri off his personal shortlist.
Dembele arrives as the reigning champion having claimed the award for the first time last year, and enters this year’s race in a strong position after guiding PSG to a second consecutive Champions League title. Mbappe, meanwhile, made history at this year’s World Cup by overtaking Lionel Messi as the tournament’s all-time leading goalscorer with 22 goals, though his club season with Real Madrid was again without major silverware. Kane had arguably his finest campaign yet, scoring 73 goals for club and country combined and winning the Bundesliga title with Bayern Munich, in addition to helping England secure a third-place finish at the World Cup. Both Dembele and Mbappe featured for France at the tournament, where the team was eliminated by eventual champions Spain in the semi-finals.
Also included on the shortlist is Spain captain Rodri, the 2024 Ballon d’Or winner, recognised for his influential midfield performances in helping Spain lift a second World Cup title. Argentina forward Lionel Messi, now 39 and the record eight-time winner of the award, also features on the list following his role guiding Argentina to a runner-up finish at the World Cup and his Major League Soccer title win with Inter Miami. The full men’s shortlist further includes Jude Bellingham, Pau Cubarsi, Marc Cucurella, Luis Diaz, Bruno Fernandes, Gabriel, Erling Haaland, Sadio Mane, Lautaro Martinez, Michael Olise, Julian Quinones, Declan Rice, William Saliba, Dayot Upamecano and Vinicius Junior.
In the corresponding women’s shortlist, also revealed on Tuesday, two-time winner Alexia Putellas, Ewa Pajor and Melchie Dumornay are among the frontrunners, while three-time reigning champion Aitana Bonmati did not make the cut this year after missing the majority of the season through injury, despite returning in time to help Barcelona complete a quadruple-winning campaign that included another Champions League title. Notably, no goalkeeper was nominated for the men’s award this year, meaning Lev Yashin remains the only goalkeeper in history to have won the prize, having done so back in 1963.
The winners of this year’s men’s and women’s Ballon d’Or, along with the associated Yashin Trophy for the best goalkeeper, the Kopa Trophy for the world’s best young player, and the coaches’ awards, will be announced at a ceremony in London on Monday, October 26, 2026.
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