The Ballon d’Or leaves Paris this year. The 70th edition of football’s best-known individual award will be presented at the London Palladium on October 26, with Harry Kane, Kylian Mbappé and Lamine Yamal among the 30 men on the shortlist.

Football’s most famous individual prize is on the move. The 2026 Ballon d’Or will be handed out on October 26 at the London Palladium, ESPN reports, instead of its usual home in Paris.

Why London

The switch marks the award’s 70th anniversary. The first Ballon d’Or was presented in Blackpool, England, to the forward Stanley Matthews, who was 41 at the time.

Organisers said it was fitting, in a landmark year, to celebrate the game’s best players “in the beating heart of the country that first conceived of it”.

How the Award Works

The shortlists of 30 players for the men’s and women’s awards were announced last week. According to ESPN, they are drawn up by a jury of 100 journalists from around the world.

Ousmane Dembélé of Paris Saint-Germain won last year’s award, the 69th, ahead of Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal.

The Leading Contenders

Harry Kane is described by ESPN as one of the favourites. The Bayern Munich striker scored 67 goals in 58 games last season in all competitions, including 36 in 31 Bundesliga matches, and captained England to third place at the 2026 World Cup.

Kylian Mbappé scored 42 goals in 44 games for Real Madrid, though he has now gone two seasons without a trophy at the club.

Lamine Yamal scored 24 goals in 45 games as Barcelona won the Spanish league, then was part of the Spain team that won the World Cup.

Ousmane Dembélé, the holder, won a second consecutive Champions League with PSG and contributed six goals and two assists for France at the World Cup.

Erling Haaland won a third Premier League Golden Boot with 27 goals in 35 games for Manchester City and scored seven goals at his first World Cup.

World Cup Winners in the Mix

Spain’s World Cup victory is reflected in the list. Defender Pau Cubarsí, 19, earns a first nomination after playing every minute of the tournament, in which Spain kept seven clean sheets, and being named its best young player.

Marc Cucurella, who also played every minute for Spain, is nominated too. England’s Jude Bellingham makes the list after scoring seven goals at the tournament.

A Notable Absence

In the women’s award there will be a new winner. Aitana Bonmatí, who won the past three editions, was not shortlisted this year after missing months through injury.

The women’s list includes Scarlett Camberos of Club América, the first Mexican woman to be nominated. She scored 27 goals as her club won the Concacaf Women’s Champions Cup.

Image: Harry Kane playing for England against Panama at the World Cup, June 2026. Photo by Bryan Berlin via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.