The good and the great of the game descended upon London for soccer’s answer to the Oscars.
The Ballon d’Or offers the winner more than just a shiny golden orb. | Jose Breton/Pics Action/NurPhoto/Getty Images
As Kylian Mbappé once gushed, capturing the modern obsession with this individual award, the Ballon d’Or is “the Holy Grail,” the “ticket to the big world.”
Real Madrid’s prolific striker is front and center on a night which will see not one, not two, but 13 different prizes dished out at The London Palladium. The standout men and women, youngsters, goalkeepers, coaches and clubs will all be ruthlessly ranked and categorized by a panel of journalists.
“We all watched that ceremony with those red carpet arrivals and said to ourselves: One day, that will be me,” Mbappé has admitted. Now, he—and the rest of the great and the good of the sport—are on that red carpet.
Lamine Yamal (left) and Kylian Mbappé are in the battle. | Maddie Meyer/FIFA/Getty Images
22. Manaka Matsukubo (North Carolina Courage/Chelsea)
21. Scarlett Camberos (Club América)
20. Selma Bacha (OL Lyonnes)
19. Tessa Wullaert (Inter Milan/Como)
18. Barbra Banda (Orlando Pride)
17. Esmee Brugts (Barcelona)
16. Mapi León (Barcelona/London City Lionesses)
15. Cata Coll (Barcelona)
14. Wendie Renard (OL Lyonnes)
13. Mariona Caldentey (Arsenal)
12. Klara Bühl (Bayern Munich)
11. Yui Hasegawa (Manchester City)
Temwa Chawinga (Kansas City Current)
Melchie Dumornay (OL Lyonnes)
Caroline Graham Hansen (Barcelona)
Patri Guijarro (Barcelona)
Pernille Harder (Bayern Munich)
Ewa Pajor (Barcelona)
Clàudia Pina (Barcelona)
Alexia Putellas (Barcelona/London City Lionesses)
Alessia Russo (Arsenal)
Khadija Shaw (Manchester City)
Lamine Yamal (left) and Pau Cubarsí were both recognized at this summer’s World Cup. | James Gill/Danehouse/Getty Images
Kerim Alajbegović (RB Salzburg/Juventus)
Ayyoub Bouaddi (Lille/Manchester City)
Pau Cubarsí (Barcelona)
Yan Diomande (RB Leipzig/Real Madrid)
Lennart Karl (Bayern Munich)
Éli Junior Kroupi (Bournemouth)
Lamine Yamal (Barcelona)
Johan Manzambi (Aston Villa)
Ibrahim Maza (Bayer Leverkusen)
Warren Zaïre-Emery (Paris Saint-Germain)
Lily Yohannes is a talent for the future and the present. | Terence Lewis/Icon Sportswire/Getty Images
Veerle Buurman (Chelsea)
Vicky López (Barcelona)
Felicia Schröder (BK Häcken/Real Madrid)
Clara Serrajordi (Barcelona)
Lily Yohannes (OL Lyonnes)
Yassine Bounou (Al Hilal)
Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid)
Gregor Kobel (Borussia Dortmund)
Joan García (Barcelona)
Édouard Mendy (Al Ahli)
Emiliano Martínez (Aston Villa/Chelsea)
David Raya (Arsenal)
Vozinha (Chaves/Colo-Colo)
Unai Simón (Athletic Club)
Matvey Safonov (Paris Saint-Germain)
Ann-Katrin Berger (Gotham FC)
Cata Coll (Barcelona)
Lorena (Kansas City Current)
Hannah Hampton (Chelsea)
Ayaka Yamashita (Manchester City)
This is a purely statistical award dished out to the top scorer men’s and women’s players from the 2025–26 season for club and country. Harry Kane outstripped everyone with a staggering haul of 73 for Bayern Munich and England while Poland’s Ewa Pajor followed up her 2025 prize with another prolific year at Barcelona.
This unique prize ignores all action on the pitch to instead honor the individual (or collective) to “identify the best solidarity actions carried out by committed champions.” Named after the legendary Brazilian whose committment to social causes was as legendary as his right foot, the prize has been handed out since 2022.
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