Ballon d’Or 2026 Men’s Winners: Full Category-by-Category Guide

The Ballon d’Or 2026 men’s winners were confirmed at the 70th Ballon d’Or ceremony in London on 26 October 2026. Harry Kane won the Men’s Ballon d’Or and Men’s Striker of the Year, while Lamine Yamal, Unai Simón, Luis de la Fuente and Paris Saint-Germain collected the other main men’s honours.

Bukayo Saka also received the Sócrates Award for his humanitarian work. This guide brings the men’s award results together in one place without duplicating the full 30-player Ballon d’Or ranking.

Harry Kane finished first in the 2026 Men’s Ballon d’Or vote, ahead of Kylian Mbappé and Lamine Yamal. The Bayern Munich striker became the first English men’s winner since Michael Owen in 2001.

Kane scored 73 goals for club and country during the 2025/26 reference season. His campaign included a domestic treble with Bayern Munich, a third consecutive Bundesliga top-scorer award and 14 UEFA Champions League goals as Bayern reached the semi-finals.

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The complete 1-30 ranking belongs to the separate men’s rankings intent. On this page, the podium is included only to give context to the main award winner.

Lamine Yamal won the Men’s Young Talent of the Year award for a third consecutive season, becoming the first player to achieve that sequence.

The Barcelona forward recorded 25 goals and 20 assists in 57 matches during 2025/26. He also won LaLiga and the Spanish Super Cup with Barcelona and was part of Spain’s 2026 World Cup-winning team.

Spain and Athletic Club goalkeeper Unai Simón was named Men’s Goalkeeper of the Year. He was one of ten nominees for the award and entered the vote after a season that included Spain’s World Cup triumph.

The goalkeeper award recognises performances over the same 2025/26 reference period used for the wider Ballon d’Or programme.

Spain head coach Luis de la Fuente won the Men’s Coach of the Year award after guiding Spain to the 2026 FIFA World Cup title.

He finished ahead of a shortlist that also included Mikel Arteta, Unai Emery, Vincent Kompany and Luis Enrique.

Paris Saint-Germain was named Men’s Club of the Year for 2026. PSG’s season included the UEFA Champions League, Ligue 1, the Intercontinental Cup, the UEFA Super Cup and the French Super Cup.

The other nominated clubs were Arsenal, Bayern Munich, Bodø/Glimt and Flamengo.

Kane completed a two-award night by also winning Men’s Striker of the Year. The honour was previously known as the Gerd Müller Trophy and recognises elite goalscoring output.

Kane’s 73 goals for Bayern Munich and England gave him the strongest scoring case in the 2025/26 reference period. It was his second Striker of the Year award.

Bukayo Saka received the Sócrates Award, which recognises humanitarian and social-impact work by a footballer.

The Ballon d’Or organisers highlighted Saka’s support for children in Nigeria and his public stance against hate on social media among the reasons for the award.

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The Men’s Ballon d’Or itself was decided by an international jury of specialised journalists, with one representative from each of the top 100 countries in the FIFA rankings used when the nominee lists were published.

The reference period ran from 3 August 2025 to 19 July 2026. The three criteria were applied in order: individual performance and decisive impact, collective performance and trophies, then class and fair play.

Each juror ranked ten players from the 30-player shortlist, awarding 15 points for first place down to one point for tenth.

Harry Kane won the 2026 Men’s Ballon d’Or, finishing ahead of Kylian Mbappé and Lamine Yamal.

Lamine Yamal won the award for a third consecutive season.

Unai Simón of Athletic Club and Spain won Men’s Goalkeeper of the Year.

Spain head coach Luis de la Fuente won the award.

Paris Saint-Germain won Men’s Club of the Year.

Harry Kane won Men’s Striker of the Year after scoring 73 goals for club and country during 2025/26.

Arsenal and England forward Bukayo Saka received the Sócrates Award.

The ceremony was held at the London Palladium on 26 October 2026, marking the award’s 70th anniversary.

Harry Kane was the headline men’s winner in London, taking both the Ballon d’Or and Striker of the Year awards. Lamine Yamal, Unai Simón, Luis de la Fuente and Paris Saint-Germain completed the main men’s football categories, while Bukayo Saka received the Sócrates Award for his work away from the pitch.

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