Kane, Haaland, Messi on Ballon d’Or shortlist

Kane, Haaland, Messi on Ballon d’Or shortlist. Skip to content Menu Home | Kane, Haaland, Messi on Ballon d’Or shortlist Seven times winner Lionel Messi Image Credits : Reuters SABC News 8 September 2026, 17:56 [SAST] Harry Kane, Erling Haaland and Lionel Messi have all made the 30-man shortlist for the 2026 Men’s Ballon d’Or, while Cape Verde’s World Cup hero Vozinha has been nominated for the Yashin award, organisers France Football announced on Tuesday.

What happened

Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid/England)Pau Cubarsi (Barcelona/Spain)Marc Cucurella (Real Madrid/Spain)Ousmane Dembele (Paris St-Germain/France)Luis Diaz (Bayern Munich/Colombia)Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United/Portugal)Gabriel (Arsenal/Brazil)Erling Haaland (Manchester City/Norway)Achraf Hakimi (Paris St-Germain/Morocco)Harry Kane (Bayern Munich/England)Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (Paris St-Germain/Georgia)Lamine Yamal (Barcelona/Spain)Sadio Mane (Al-Nassr/Senegal)Marquinhos (Paris St-Germain/Brazil)Lautaro Martinez (Inter Milan/Argentina)Kylian Mbappe (Real Madrid/France)Nuno Mendes (Paris St-Germain/Portugal)Lionel Messi (Inter Miami/Argentina)Joao Neves (Paris St-Germain/Portugal)Michael Olise (Bayern Munich/France)Willian Pacho (Paris St-Germain/Ecuador)Julian Quinones (Al-Qadsiah/Mexico)Declan Rice (Arsenal/England)Rodri (Barcelona/Spain)Fabian Ruiz (Paris St-Germain/Spain)William Saliba (Arsenal/France)Ferran Torres (Paris St-Germain/Spain)Dayot Upamecano (Bayern Munich/France)Vinicius Jr (Real Madrid/Brazil)Vitinha (Paris St-Germain/Portugal)Figure caption, The Ballon d'Or voting criteria explainedMen's young talent of the year nominationsKerim Alajbegovic (Bayer Leverkusen/Bosnia-Herzegovina)Ayyoub Bouaddi (Man City/France)Pau Cubarsi (Barcelona/Spain)Yan Diomande (Real Madrid/Ivory Coast)Lennart Karl (Bayern Munich/Germany)Eli Junior Kroupi (Bournemouth)Lamine Yamal (Barcelona/Spain)Johan Manzambi (Aston Villa/Switzerland)Ibrahim Maza (Bayer Leverkusen/Algeria)Warren Zaire-Emery (France/Paris St-Germain)Men's goalkeeper of the year nominationsThe heroics of Cape Verde keeper Vozinha were one of the highlights of the 2026 World Cup and, along with Arsenal and Spain stopper David Raya, he is on the list for the men's Ballon d'Or goalkeeper award.

Haaland netted 58 goals in 64 games for Manchester City and Norway, while eight-times Ballon d’Or winner Messi had 75 goal contributions in 49 matches for Inter Miami and Argentina, who he helped to reached the World Cup final. Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Harry Kane scored 73 goals last season for club and countryByAlastair TelferBBC Sport journalistPublished6 hours agoBayern Munich striker Harry Kane is one of three England players nominated for the 2026 Ballon d'Or. Real Madrid's Jude Bellingham and Arsenal's Declan Rice join Kane, the favourite for the award, on the 30-player shortlist.

Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi, who is looking to win his ninth Ballon d'Or, has been nominated. The nominations are:Yassine Bounou (Al-Hilal/Morocco)Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid)Joan Garcia (Barcelona/Spain)Gregor Kobel (Borussia Dortmund/Switzerland)Emiliano Martínez (Aston Villa/Chelsea/Argentina)Edouard Mendy (Al-Ahli/Senegal)David Raya (Arsenal/Spain)Matvey Safonov (Paris St-Germain/Russia)Unai Simon (Athletic Bilbao/Spain)Vozinha (Colo-Colo/Cape Verde)Men's coach of the year nominationsMikel Arteta (Arsenal)Unai Emery (Aston Villa)Luis Enrique (Paris St-Germain)Luis de la Fuente (Spain)Vincent Kompany (Bayern Munich)Men's club of the year nominationsArsenal (England)Bayern Munich (Germany)Bodo/Glimt (Norway)Flamengo (Brazil)Paris St-Germain (France)Related topicsFootballMore on this storyCan Kane buck history and win Ballon d'Or?

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The wider picture

Kane had a stunning season with Bayern Munich and England, scoring 73 goals for club and country in 65 matches and helped secure a treble of Bundesliga, German Cup, and German Super Cup as well as leading his nation to the World Cup semi-finals. Also among those on the shortlist are Jude Bellingham, Kylian Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele and Lamine Yamal but not five-times winner Cristiano Ronaldo despite the Portugal forward lifting the Saudi Pro League title with Al-Nassr.

The women’s shortlist includes Poland’s Barcelona quadruple-winner Ewa Pajor, Alexia Putellas, who featured for Barca and Spain but has now joined London City Lionesses, and Manchester City’s prolific Jamaica striker Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw. Cape Verde’s Vozinha was nominated for the Yashin Trophy awarded to the best goalkeeper, with his standout World Cup performances putting him on the 10-man shortlist after he helped his country advance from the tournament’s group stage.

The 70th edition of the Ballon d’Or will be staged in London for the first time at a ceremony on October 26 as a tribute to Stanley Matthews, who won the first Ballon d’Or. The 39-year-old scored eight goals as Argentina lost the World Cup final to Spain in July, with Messi since retiring from international football. Real Madrid forwards Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Jr also make the shortlist, as do Arsenal defenders Gabriel and William Saliba.

The "symbolic choice of venue" is in tribute to former England player Sir Stanley Matthews, who won the first Ballon d'Or.

What has been reported

This could be year I win Ballon d'Or, says MbappePublished1 day agoWhen will Africa get its next Ballon d'Or winner? Published4 hours agoHow is the Ballon d'Or winner decided? Published5 hours agoWho are the 2026 Ballon d'Or contenders? Five-times winner Cristiano Ronaldo did not make the list He will compete against Spain’s World Cup-winner Unai Simon and Argentina’s Emi Martinez plus fellow African nominees Yassine Bounou and Edouard Mendy. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.

Lamine Yamal is one of six Spain players that won the World Cup to be included. Having scored the winning goal in the final, Paris St-Germain forward Ferran Torres, who joined the French club from Barcelona in the summer, makes the cut.

What happens next

Back-to-back Champions League winners Paris St-Germain have nine players – excluding new signing Torres – nominated, including last year's winner Ousmane Dembele. The award is celebrating its 70th anniversary, having been created by France Football in 1956, and the winner will be announced at an ceremony in London on 26 October. What information do we collect from this quiz?

The report has been compiled by The Daily Waves using information reported across sabcnews.com, bbc.co.uk. Details are presented according to the information available at the time of publication and may change as authorities, organisers or other relevant parties provide updates.