Ballon d’Or 2026 Power Rankings

Paris Saint-Germain forward Ousmane Dembele picked up the 2025 Ballon d’Or, but who will lift the famous individual honour in 2026?

With the 2025/26 season over and the World Cup also done and dusted, players have more than made their case to land the historic award.

Here are the 20 players who are best placed to win the 2026 Ballon d’Or right now, based on current form and their respective team’s chances of silverware.

Ranking factors: To help rank the players in order, we have considered the following criteria:

• Current form – how well a player has performed in the past few months
• Importance to their teams – how influential they are to their teams’ performances
• Reputation – what others say about them

Here’s a look at the top 10 candidates and why they’re in with such a good shout of taking home football’s top individual award…

10

Declan Rice

Arsenal and England

Now a vital member for club and country, Declan Rice is one of the best midfielders in the world right now, shining in a slightly further forward role at the Emirates under Mikel Arteta.

After his two stunning free-kicks against Real Madrid in the Champions League in 2024/25, Rice has continued to add end product to his game and has been praised by England legends David Beckham, Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard.

9

Rodri

Manchester City and Spain

After winning the Ballon d’Or two years ago, the Spanish midfielder was not in the conversation to win it again for the entirity of last season.

That said, a few months ago Pep Guardiola suggested that “in the World Cup he will be the best version of Rodri.” Well, he was absolutely spot on.

As Spain won the trophy, he was not just the best midfielder in the competition but he was also named the tournament’s best player. He was simply outstanding in the middle of the park for La Roja.

8

Michael Olise

Bayern Munich and France

Bayern Munich winger Michael Olise has continued his fine form at the Allianz Arena into his second season.

A regular on the right wing under Vincent Kompany, Olise is already into double figures for goal contributions with Munich. Meanwhile, his national manager, Didier Deschamps, has said Olise “has everything”, with France and Bayern teammate Dayot Upamecano calling the attacker a “magician”.

He staked his claim for a Ballon d’Or nomination by assisting seven goals at the World Cup. For context as to how good that was, no player has ever done that in the competition’s history. He surpassed a record held by the great Pele.

7

Vitinha

PSG and Portugal

Vitinha’s stunning hat-trick against Tottenham in the Champions League last term vaulted him up the rankings, with the all-action midfielder providing a mixture of end product, tenacity and control in Paris, averaging over 100 passes per game in 2025/26.

The Portugal star has gone from strength to strength in recent seasons having won the quadruple with PSG in the 2024/25 campaign, and has cemented himself as one of the best midfielders in the world thanks to back to back continental trophies.

6

Ousmane Dembele

PSG and France

The current holder of the award has been on fire again over the last year, notably scoring 20 goals and registering 11 assists for the Paris side in 2025/26.

Dembele may have played in the shadow of Kylian Mbappe at the World Cup but the forward still had a remarkable time in North America, staking his claim for a successive Ballon d’Or with six goals and two assists in eight matches for France.

5

Erling Haaland

Man City and Norway

Jamie Carragher has called Erling Haaland the “greatest goalscorer to ever play in English football”, with his ridiculous few years for City leading to the forward himself saying he’s in his best form ever.

The Nordic forward ended 2025/26 with 27 goals in 35 league matches and carried that good form into the World Cup. It was his first bite of the cherry on the global stage and he more than delivered, firing home seven goals in five appearances.

4

Lionel Messi

In his late 30s, nobody thought Lionel Messi would be in the conversation to win the Ballon d’Or again. He’s now playing for Inter Miami in MLS and was seeing out his career in Florida in style.

Yet, step forward Argentina’s version of Messi. Step forward the World Cup version of Messi.

At the 2026 World Cup, he has been nothing short of electric. Scoring a remarkable hat-trick against Algeria before netting another two against Austria. He’s surpassed Miroslav Klose as the competition’s highest goalscorer but has now been pipped to the post by Mbappe.

Still, he ended his time in North America with eight goals in as many games. Considering his age, it was simply jaw-dropping.

3

Lamine Yamal

Barcelona and Spain

Lamine Yamal has won the Kopa Trophy at the Ballon d’Or awards for the last two years, so it feels as if it is just a matter of time until the Barcelona star takes home the major individual honour.

With a LaLiga title and a World Cup now to his name, he stands a fantastic chance of being crowned the winner for 2026.

2

Harry Kane

Bayern Munich and England

Harry Kane is continuing to do what he does best – score goals on a regular basis. With Bayern Munich, Kane scored a remarkable 17 goals in the first nine games for the German champions, becoming the fastest player this century to reach 100 goals for a side playing in one of Europe’s top five leagues.

He ended the season with a staggering haul of 61 goals in 51 games for his club and had a remarkable World Cup too, bagging six times in seven outings. He is truly one of the most devastating finishers the game has ever seen.

1

Kylian Mbappe

Real Madrid and France

Leading the way as the current 2026 Ballon d’Or favourite is Real Madrid superstar Kylian Mbappe.

Tennis legend Rafael Nadal has even called Mbappe the “best in the world”, and on current form, it’s hard to argue against the Madrid fan. At the World Cup, he won the Golden Boot with ten goals in eight matches and has also become the top scorer in the competition’s history with 22 strikes to his name.

Given Messi is unlikely to still be playing in four years, no one is going to catch the Frenchman anytime soon.