Ballon d’Or 2026 LIVE: Harry Kane and Lamine Yamal to battle for prestigious award in London ceremony tonight

Harry Kane’s Ballon d’Or candidacy has been receiving plenty of backing from teammates at club and country level.

“It would be lovely, you always wish it for a team-mate of yours to have that success or to get that trophy,” said Bayern Munich winger Serge Gnabry. “Has he done enough? I think you always talk about a lot of different markers as to what is needed to win the Ballon d’Or.

“But he had an incredible year, so for me of course he’s done enough. He’s showed his quality and he’s a key player to our team so those are big attributes to win such a trophy. I would wish it for him, for sure.”

Meanwhile England teammate Declan Rice also backed the Three Lions skipper.

 “For me, he’s the clear winner,” Rice told TNT Sports after facing Kane in the Champions League with Arsenal earlier this week. “I think his numbers speak for himself. The year he’s had has been remarkable.

“He’s obviously up against some other world-class players, but when you play with him, you realise how good he is, and when you play against him, you see how much of a pain he is.”

The reality of the modern Ballon d’Or is that it is a battleground akin to a political election, with campaigning and a PR drive crucial to securing the award. Harry Kane, Lamine Yamal and Kylian Mbappe have all been engaging in the proccess.

Players are desperate to seize the throne. There are legacies at stake here. Mbappe is the best player of his generation, the World Cup’s record goalscorer, and he will end his career as one of the game’s great forwards.

But it will not have escaped his attention that he is 27 and still hasn’t won the Ballon d’Or. Nor is he likely to this year, after failing to win a trophy with Real Madrid or France.

Our Chief Sports Writer Lawrence Ostlere will be at the London Palladium for the ceremony this evening and he has previewed the men’s award here, including naming his winner:

Before we get to the ceremony tonight, there will be a countdown from 30th to 11th of both the men’s and women’s awards. Some early Ballon d’Or content to keep you satiated until the main event.

The top 10s will then be revealed during the ceremony itself.

We’re expecting the countdown for the women’s award to start around 4pm, with the men’s award at some point within the hour afterwards. When we get more specific times, we’ll let you know.

Meanwhile, the women’s Ballon d’Or award appears to be a bit more open and shut than the men’s equivalent.

Aitana Bonmati’s three-year stranglehold on the award will come to an end after a horrific leg break ruled her out of action for a number of months and means she doesn’t make the shortlist. Her Spanish teammate Alexia Putellas is the overwhelming favourite to become a three-time winner herself by adding to her 2021 and 2022 awards.

Last season Putellas scored 22 goals in 45 appearances for Barcelona, helping them win the quadruple, and netted five times in eight games as Spain lifted the Nations League crown. She then made a stunning move to WSL side London City Lionesses this summer.

Her former Barcelona teammate Ewa Pajor is probably Putellas’ closest rival, having scored 31 in 40 for Barca, as well as providing 12 assists, and top scoring in the Champions League with 11 goals in 10 matches. But Putellas’ victory appears to be a fait accompit

Here’s the full list of nominees:

• Selma Bacha (OL Lyonnes and France)
• Barbra Banda (Orlando Pride and Zambia)
• Esmee Brugts (Barcelona and Netherlands)
• Klara Buhl (Bayern Munich and Germany)
• Mariona Caldentey (Arsenal and Spain)
• Scarlett Camberos (Club America and Mexico)
• Temwa Chawinga (Kansas City Current and Malawi)
• Kerstin Casparij (Manchester City and Netherlands)
• Cata Coll (Barcelona and Spain)
• Corventina Dumornay (OL Lyonnes and Haiti)
• Caroline Graham Hansen (Barcelona and Norway)
• Alex Greenwood (Manchester City and England)
• Patri Guijarro (Barcelona and Spain)
• Pernille Harder (Bayern Munich and Denmark)
• Yui Hasegawa (Manchester City and Japan)
• Rose Lavelle (FC Gotham and USA)
• Mapi Leon (Barcelona / London City and Spain)
• Lorena Leite (Kansas City Current and Brazil)
• Manaka Matsukobo (Chelsea and Japan)
• Melvine Malard (Manchester Utd / Chelsea and France)
• Ewa Pajor (Barcelona and Poland)
• Vivianne Miedema (Manchester City and Netherlands)
• Alexia Putellas (Barcelona/London City Lionesses and Spain)
• Claudia Pina (Barcelona and Spain)
• Wendie Renard (OL Lyonnes and France)
• Alessia Russo (Arsenal and England)
• Momoko Tanikawa (Bayern Munich and Japan)
• Khadija Shaw (Manchester City and Jamaica)
• Tessa Wullaert (Como and Belgium)
• Caroline Weir (Real Madrid and Scotland)

Here’s the full list of 30 nominees for the men’s award, led of course by Harry Kane.

Jude Bellingham and Declan Rice are the other Englishmen nominated, while the likes of Erling Haaland, Bruno Fernandes, Gabriel Magalhaes and William Saliba are among the Premier League representation.

• Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid and England)
• Pau Cubarsi (Barcelona and Spain)
• Marc Cucurella (Chelsea/Real Madrid and Spain)
• Ousmane Dembele (Paris Saint-Germain and France)
• Luis Diaz (Bayern Munich and Colombia)
• Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United and Portugal)
• Gabriel Magalhaes (Arsenal and Brazil)
• Erling Haaland (Manchester City and Norway)
• Achraf Hakimi (Paris Saint-Germain and Morocco)
• Harry Kane (Bayern Munich and England)
• Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (Paris Saint-Germain and Georgia)
• Lamine Yamal (Barcelona and Spain)
• Sadio Mane (Al Nassr and Senegal)
• Marquinhos (Paris Saint-Germain and Brazil)
• Lautaro Martinez (Inter Milan and Argentina)
• Kylian Mbappe (Real Madrid and France)
• Nuno Mendes (Paris Saint-Germain and Portugal)
• Lionel Messi (Inter Miami and Argentina)
• Joao Neves (Paris Saint-Germain and Portugal)
• Michael Olise (Bayern Munich and France)
• Willian Pacho (Paris Saint-Germain and Ecuador)
• Julian Quinones (Al Qadsiah and Mexico)
• Declan Rice (Arsenal and England)
• Rodri (Manchester City/Barcelona and Spain)
• Fabian Ruiz (Barcelona/Paris Saint-Germain and Spain)
• William Saliba (Arsenal and France)
• Ferran Torres (Barcelona/Paris Saint-Germain and Spain)
• Dayot Upamecano (Bayern Munich and France)
• Vinicius Jr (Real Madrid and Brazil)
• Vitinha (Paris Saint-Germain and Portugal)

The men’s award tonight looks set to be a three-way battle between Harry Kane, Lamine Yamal and Kylian Mbappe.

England captain and Bayern Munich striker Kane is the favourite, aiming to be the first English player to win the men’s award since Michael Owen in 2001. Despite lacking a continental trophy, the 33-year-old’s ludicrous goalscoring record, plus his penchant for assists, have positioned him nicely to secure the honour.

Spain and Barcelona superstar Yamal appeared to be Kane’s closest competitor for a long time after helping his country to World Cup glory and his club to another LaLiga title.

But Mbappe has made a late surge and is now second favourite in the betting, aided by breaking the World Cup goalscoring record this summer after netting an incredible 10 times across the tournament.

Rodri, the Ballon d’Or winner in 2024, won the golden ball as the World Cup’s best player, while Khvicha Kvaratskhelia was arguably the standout player in the men’s Champions League last season after inspiring PSG to claim back-to-back titles.

A few basics to get us started.

The 2026 Ballon d’Or ceremony will take place in London this evening with the event getting underway from 8pm GMT. The event traditionally takes place in Paris but to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the crowning of Sir Stanley Matthews, the very first winner of the trophy in 1956, it will be hosted at the legendary London Palladium Theatre.

You can watch the ceremony on the official website ballondor.com or DAZN, globally, with a free live stream available from both, while Independent Sport will bring you updates, reaction and analysis in this very live blog.

Welcome to The Independent’s coverage of the 2026 Ballon d’Or ceremony, which takes place in London this evening.

Harry Kane, Lamine Yamal, Kylian Mbappe or a real left-field choice? Who will leave with the iconic trophy?

Stick with us for all the build-up, best of action from the red carpet and then the ceremony itself.