When will Africa get its next Ballon d’Or winner?

When will Africa get its next Ballon d'Or winner?. Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Senegal forward Sadio Mane and Morocco right-back Achraf Hakimi are the only two Africans in the running to win the 2026 men's Ballon d'OrByRob StevensBBC Sport AfricaPublished4 hours agoAfrica has only ever had one Ballon d'Or winner, and the wait for someone to emulate George Weah is likely to be extended further after this year's nominations were revealed.

What happened

Sadio Mane and Achraf Hakimi have been nominated for this year's Ballon d'Or – but when will an African claim football's top individual prize for the first time since 1995? Published6 hours agoFavourite Kane makes Ballon d'Or shortlistPublished6 hours agoYet, for all the stars the continent has produced, the only other time an African player registered a top-three finish came in 2022, when Mane was second behind France striker Karim Benzema. But how do the historic Ballon d'Or numbers stack up for Africa?

Weah claims the crownImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, George Weah went on to serve as President of Liberia from 2018 to 2024The high point of Africa's Ballon d'Or history clearly came in the very first year the continent's stars became eligible, with Weah topping the vote in 1995 ahead of Germany's Jurgen Klinsmann and Finland's Jari Litmanen. Which African nation has the most Ballon d'Or nominations? Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Samuel Eto'o finished fifth in the Ballon d'Or in 2009 after scoring in Barcelona's Champions League final victory over Manchester United that yearIn total, Africa has received 76 nominations for the Ballon d'Or since 1995.

Ballon d'Or nominations by African countryIvory Coast – 15 (Didier Drogba 8, Yaya Toure 5, Kolo Toure, Sebastien Haller)Cameroon – 12 (Samuel Eto'o 9, Geremi, Patrick Mboma, Andre Onana)Nigeria – 10 (Jay-Jay Okocha 2, Nwankwo Kanu 2, Finidi George, Daniel Amokachi, Victor Ikpeba, Sunday Oliseh, Victor Osimhen, Ademola Lookman)Senegal – 8 (Sadio Mane 5, Papa Bouba Diop, El Hadji Diouf, Kalidou Koulibaly)Ghana – 6 (Michael Essien 3, Tony Yeboah, Samuel Kuffour, Asamoah Gyan)Egypt – 6 (all Mohamed Salah)Algeria – 4 (all Riyad Mahrez)Mali – 3 (Mahamadou Diarra 2, Frederic Kanoute)Gabon – 3 (all Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang)Morocco – 3 (Achraf Hakimi 2, Yassine Bounou)Liberia – 2 (both George Weah)Chad – 1 (Japhet N'Doram)Tunisia – 1 (Hatem Trabelsi)Togo – 1 (Emmanuel Adebayor)Guinea – 1 (Serhou Guirassy)Similar story for Africa's womenImage source, Confederation of African FootballImage caption, Malawi forward Temwa Chawinga received her second Ballon d'Or Feminin nomination after scooping the golden boot at this year's Women's Africa Cup of NationsSince the women's Ballon d'Or was first awarded in 2018, only four African players have been nominated.

The wider picture

Ballon d'Or Feminin nominations by African countryZambia – 3 (all Barbra Banda)Malawi – 3 (Temwa Chawinga 2, Tabitha Chawinga)Nigeria – 2 (both Asisat Oshoala)Additional reporting by Ian Williams. Sabalenka next plays the winner of an all-American clash between Jessica Pegula and Emma Navarro. 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.

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. 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. Both players have previously recorded top-six Ballon d'Or finishes but, after a year in which Spain lifted the Fifa World Cup and Kylian Mbappe netted 10 goals to become the tournament's all-time top scorer, the chances of the Paris St-Germain right-back or the Al-Nassr winger lifting the coveted trophy appear slim.

And it is not the first time that Africa has failed to make a big impact. Of course, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have dominated proceedings for most of this century, scooping 13 of the 15 available Ballons d'Or between 2008 and 2023.

What has been reported

The "symbolic choice of venue" for the 70th anniversary of the award is in tribute to the inaugural winner, England winger Sir Stanley Matthews. Five more Africans made that year's 50-player list. The pool has narrowed since then, with 30 players in contention since 2008 and just 23 in the running when the Ballon d'Or was combined with the Fifa's world player of the year award between 2010 and 2015. One other stand-out year for Africa came in 2019, when three men finished in the top 10.

Five-time nominee Mane has the greatest longevity of any African, with the 34-year-old's first and most recent appearances on the list coming 10 years apart. Room for improvementThirty-nine African countries are still awaiting their first nominee, although Chad is surprisingly not among them after striker Japhet N'Doram was part of the 1995 list alongside Weah. DR Congo and South Africa, ranked 43rd and 54th in the world respectively, are the highest-ranked nations still waiting to make the cut, while no player representing a club side on the continent has ever been nominated.

There have been nine years since 1995 when only one African was among the nominees.

What happens next

African contenders have failed to pick up any votes on four occasions after being shortlisted: 1998 (Sunday Oliseh), 2000 (Geremi and Patrick Mboma), 2001 (Samuel Kuffour) and 2003 (Eto'o and Hatem Trabelsi). It means no more than two players from Africa have ever been listed for the prize in any one year. Related topicsFootballAfrica SportIvory CoastCameroonNigeriaSenegalEgyptGhanaAlgeriaMorocco 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. 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. Photograph: Rachel Ogden/The GuardianReviewNinja Artisan electric pizza oven review: so good it might even convert the puristsAffordable, fast-heating and with a clever air fryer function, this versatile model is a winner for outdoor cooks who are willing to give up the traditional flame The best pizza ovens – tested Gozney Dome Gen 2 pizza oven reviewAn electric pizza oven with no flame and no need to rotate the pizza may seem sacrilegious to purists, but the Ninja Artisan electric outdoor pizza oven solves many of the hassles of outdoor pizza making.

The report has been compiled by The Daily Waves using information reported across bbc.co.uk, sabcnews.com, theguardian.com. 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.