Lionel Messi, Rose Lavelle Headline 2026 Men's, Women's Ballon d'Or Nominees

The nominees for the 2026 men's and women's Ballon d'Or were officially announced Tuesday.

Multiple past Ballon d'Or winners were included on the men's list, including reigning winner Ousmane Dembélé of Paris Saint-Germain, 2024 winner Rodri of Barcelona and eight-time winner Lionel Messi of Inter Miami:

For the women, 2021 and 2022 winner Alèxia Putellas of London City Lionesses made the list, as did the past two runners-up in Caroline Graham Hansen of Barcelona and Mariona Caldentey of Arsenal:

The battle for both awards appears to be wide open with no single player standing out as a clear and obvious favorite.

On the men's side, Bayern Munich's Harry Kane is listed as a slight favorite ahead of Barcelona's Lamine Yamal on OddsChecker.com, followed by Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappé and then Rodri.

Other big names such as Messi, Dembélé, Manchester City's Erling Haaland and Real Madrid's Jude Bellingham are further down the list despite strong showings at the FIFA World Cup for Argentina, France, England and Norway, respectively.

Kane scored a remarkable 61 goals in 51 matches across all competitions for Bayern last season, plus he scored six goals for an England squad that reached the 2026 FIFA World Cup semifinals and finished in third place.

Should Kane prevail, it will mark his first Ballon d'Or, and the first by an Englishman since Michael Owen in 2001.

Both Yamal and Rodri had impressive World Cups in their own right, leading Spain to their second-ever World Cup triumph.

Messi, 39, already holds the record for most Ballon d'Or wins with eight, and he proved once again in the United States that he remains among the best players in the world, scoring eight goals, as Argentina reached the World Cup final.

The women's Ballon d'Or is more unpredictable than it has been in years since reigning three-time winner Aitana Bonmatí of Barcelona was not named a nominee after missing much of last season with a leg injury.

Putellas may be the woman to beat for the 2026 award, as the two-time women's Ballon d'Or winner scored 20 goals across all competitions last season and led Barca to Liga F and UEFA Women's Champions League titles in 2025-26.

Her win is far from guaranteed, though, as Arsenal's Alessia Russo led the squad to the FIFA Women's Champion Cup title, while scoring 24 goals across all competitions.

Manchester City's Bunny Shaw is also firmly in the mix by virtue of her 27 goals and City winning the Women's Super League.

The lone American representative among the women's Ballon d'Or nominees is Rose Lavelle, who led Gotham FC to the 2025 NWSL championship and 2026 NWSL Challenge Cup title.

The winners of the 2026 men's and women's Ballon d'Or Awards will be announced on Oct. 26 in London.