The latest victor of the Ballon d’Or has only recently been crowned, yet the path to next year’s esteemed prize has already begun.
After more than a decade of predictability thanks to Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo’s otherworldly brilliance, variety has returned to lucrative award. Between its inauguration and Ronaldo’s first triumph in 2008, there were only eight multi-time winners of the Ballon d’Or.
There have now been three different winners over the past four years, and 2026 has the potential to provide another surprise champion due to next summer’s World Cup, which will likely have a huge bearing on who lifts the golden ball aloft in Paris next September.
2018 winner Luka Modrić and 2023 winner Messi triumphed off the back of legacy-defining campaigns on the grandest stage the sport has to offer. So, with the North American spectacle in mind but other factors taken into account, too, here are ’s leading contenders for the 2026 Ballon d’Or.
