The Ballon d’Or is to soccer what the Heisman Trophy is to college football, the Hart Trophy to the NHL, and the MVP award to most pro sports leagues.

It is the most prestigious individual award a soccer player can receive and honors the best player from the previous season each year. The 2026 Ballon d’Or ceremony will be held on Oct. 26, when the top soccer player—from Aug. 3, 2025, to July 19, 2026—will receive the trophy.

Unlike most MVP trophies, the Ballon d’Or has no set list of candidates, which makes sense given the breadth of soccer around the world.

This year, 30 nominees are in the running, but only a select few are considered legitimate contenders for the award. These top candidates hope to follow in the footsteps of last year’s winner, Ousmane Dembele of PSG and the French National Team.

Lionel Messi, Inter Miami, Argentina

With his 2026 FIFA World Cup performance, Messi cemented his status as arguably the greatest soccer player of all time, leading Argentina to the final.

He already has eight Ballon d’Or trophies on his mantel, and his national team performance shouldn’t overshadow what he did in Major League Soccer. Messi won the 2025 MLS Cup with Miami and his second straight MLS MVP award, becoming the first to do so.

With Messi recently retiring from the national team, this is his last chance to win the award, so some voters may see it as a career-defining moment and vote for him.

Harry Kane, Bayern Munich, England

For the second time in three years, Kane won the European Golden Shoe as the top goalscorer across Europe’s top leagues. He’s already bringing quite a resume to the 2026 Ballon d’Or, and it won’t hurt that the ceremony will be held in London, England.

Kane’s 73 goals for club and country are the most by any player in a Top 5 European league since Messi’s 82 in 2011–12. He became England’s all-time leading scorer at this summer’s World Cup, set an English record for the most goals (14) in a single UEFA Champions League campaign, and won the domestic treble with Bayern Munich.

Lamine Yamal, Barcelona, Spain

At just 19, Yamal is seeking to become the youngest Ballon d’Or winner ever. He was runner-up last year, but he wasn’t coming off a World Cup win.

Yamal entered the tournament with an injury but played all 390 minutes over Spain’s last four matches.

For Barcelona, the soccer prodigy had 24 goals and 17 assists, leading Barca in both and ranking second in La Liga in goals plus assists. Yamal was also in select company as one of just three players across Europe’s Big 5 leagues to record at least 10 goals and 10 assists in domestic play.

Erling Haaland, Manchester City, Norway

The Norwegian is coming off a year in which he ranked first in EPL goals (27), second in goals across Europe’s Top 5 leagues, and third in goals (7) in the 2026 World Cup.

In Norway’s first World Cup appearance since 1998, Haaland led the team to a quarterfinal run that far surpassed expectations. He also spurred Norway’s World Cup qualification, with a 14-match streak in which he scored 27 goals. That is the longest scoring streak in competitive international play, and Haaland hopes to become Norway’s first Ballon d’Or winner.

Kylian Mbappe, Real Madrid, France

At just 27, Mbappe became the World Cup’s all-time leading scorer with 22 goals. He won his second straight Golden Boot at the tournament, one of three he’s claimed, and also leads La Liga and the UEFA Champions League in goals.

Mbappe has been a household name for nearly a decade but, to many’s surprise, has never won a Ballon d’Or or even finished as runner-up. He hopes to end that drought this year and become the first player since Cristiano Ronaldo (2013) to win the trophy without winning a league title or major cup in the prior season.

Rodri, Manchester City, Spain

Rodri is an outlier on this list because he’s not a goal contributor, registering just two goals and zero assists for both club and country. That’s not his job as a defensive midfielder, but his impact is undeniable, as shown when he won the Ballon d’Or just two years ago.

That came after Spain won the 2024 European Championship, and now he just led the Spaniards to a World Cup trophy, with Rodri named the tournament’s best player.

He claimed the World Cup Golden Ball, putting him on one of the most distinguished lists, as he, Messi, and Brazil’s Ronaldo are the only three people ever to win the World Cup, the World Cup Golden Ball, and the Ballon d’Or.

Another win on Monday would make Rodri the 11th player to win multiple Ballon d’Or trophies and the third in the 21st century, joining Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.