Ballon d'Or 2026 LIVE: Winners, times & updates from ceremony in London

Summary

Harry Kane first English winner for 25 years and Alexia Putellas wins women's award
Lamine Yamal and Vicky Lopez win young talent awards
Perre Romeu and Luis de la Fuente awarded coach of the year
Spain goalkeepers Cata Coll and Unai Simon win best goalkeepers
Bukayo Saka wins Socrates award, which honours humanitarian work and social initiatives
Barcelona women and Paris-St Germain win club of the year awards
Harry Kane and Charlyn Corral win strikers of the year
Kane announced as premature winner - but he wasn't only one

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Live Reporting

Gary Rose, George Booth and Keifer MacDonald

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Get Involvedpublished at 20:25 GMT 26 October
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Kane can’t win tonight. The two years Thierry Henry finished second despite being the best player in the world by a mile. We were told it was because he hadn’t won either the Champions League or the World Cup. Kane has won the Bundesliga and finished 3rd in the World Cup...
Jack, Bromley
Kvaratskhelia is hampered by being from a nation that won't compete at World Cups. He's a much better footballer than Harry Kane, he's so much more entertaining to watch, and actually steps up in big games. If Kane wins it just for his goals, it'll be utterly ridiculous.
Tom, East Midlands
Emery 'grateful' for coaches and players in careerpublished at 20:22 GMT 26 October
Aston Villa

Image source, Getty Images
Aston Villa boss Unai Emery and coach of the year nominee, speaking to DAZN: "Grateful. The clubs I worked at to be here.
"Grateful to all the coaches that work with me, all the players they work with me.
"Aston Villa is where I am feeling now to feel so comfortable and improving in my career as a coach."

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Get Involvedpublished at 20:21 GMT 26 October
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I love Kane, he's absolute quality, but Mbappe was the top scorer in the World Cup, and he scored goals for fun in the Spanish league. Kane did well in Germany, but Bayern win games so easily in that league, it's almost a given that Kane would be that prolific.
Jay, Bath
'My best season for sure' - Kanepublished at 20:19 GMT 26 October

Image source, Getty Images
England and Bayern Munich's Harry Kane, speaking to DAZN: "A little nervous, I am not going to lie. Different from playing a match - it is out of my control.
"It is a special occasion, trying to take it all in and trying to enjoy it. It will be an incredibly proud moment if I do achieve it.
"It was my best season for sure. I won three trophies with Bayern Munich. Close [to reaching] the final of the Champions League and semi-final of the World Cup.
"If I had won those two things it would have been guaranteed for sure."

'Articles had been prepared for all nominees'published at 20:17 GMT 26 October
Breaking
Ballon d'Or

Ballon d'Or statement on the published articles...
“Some profiles of nominees prepared by BallonDor.com were inadvertently published online.
"These articles had been prepared for all nominees and should in no way be considered as an indication of the final results or rankings”"
Kane in the housepublished at 20:16 GMT 26 October

The Three Lions' main man, Harry Kane, is in the house!
Kane is making his way along the red carpet with his wife Katie Goodland.
Just a reminder, before becoming England's record goalscorer, Kane spent some of his career on loan at the likes of Leyton Orient, Millwall, Norwich and Leicester City.
Now, he is among the biggest names in the game at the top of his career.
A remarkable journey.
Image source, EPA

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Get Involvedpublished at 20:13 GMT 26 October
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The best player not to win it has got to be Paolo Maldini. Steven Gerrard in his pomp when winning Champions League is also a big miss.
Marcus, London
All I can say is that if the brilliant Claudia Pina doesn’t win it this year, her turn isn’t far away.
Martin, Stockport
From El Clasico to the red carpetpublished at 20:11 GMT 26 October

About 24 hours ago, Kylian Mbappe was at the Camp Nou causing chaos as Jose Mourinho's side beat Barcelona 2-1...
The French superstar has arrived on the red carpet as he seeks his first ever Ballon d'Or award.
Will the 27-year-old win the award?
Image source, EPA
And if you fancy watching Mbappe in action, you can watch the highlights below!

French Montana performs on iconic London buspublished at 20:09 GMT 26 October
Sarah Dawkins
BBC Sport at The London Palladium

Waiting for guests to arrive here in central London and while we do, we’re being treated to a performance by French Montana on a London bus!
Carragher backs Kane to winpublished at 20:07 GMT 26 October

Image source, Getty Images/PA Media
Former England internationals Gary Lineker and Jamie Carragher has arrived at the London Palladium.
Carragher thinks Harry Kane should be awarded the Ballon d'Or award and Lineker touched on the red carpet "getting longer" as the awards ceremony has grown in popularity over the years.

Postpublished at 20:05 GMT 26 October

Harry Kane has arrived and is on the red carpet now posing for photos with his wife, Katie.
What did Ballon d'Or publish early?published at 20:02 GMT 26 October

First, it was England captain and Bayern Munich player Harry Kane who was announced as the winner of the 2026 Ballon d'Or trophy...
Image source, Ballon d'Or website
Then Barcelona's Lamine Yamal and Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe's both had separate articles stating they were the 2026 winners...
Image source, Ballon d'Or website
Image source, Ballon d'Or website
However, the winner announcements don't stop there...
Lionel Messi also had an article published on the Ballon d'Or website.
The article's headline read: "Lionel Messi defies time and conquers his ninth Ballon d'Or"
Image source, Ballon d'Or website

Fans seek pics with football iconspublished at 19:58 GMT 26 October
Sarah Dawkins
BBC Sport at The London Palladium

Some lucky fans have been let inside the “drop zone” area where players are arriving to walk the red carpet. Lots of selfie and autograph potential…
Ballon d'Or website blunder causes confusionpublished at 19:57 GMT 26 October
Keifer MacDonald
BBC Sport

For a moment, it seemed as though Harry Kane's dreams of winning the Ballon d'Or had come true.
It was shortly after 17:15 GMT on Monday when an article from the award's official website titled "Harry Kane wins the 2026 Ballon d'Or" began to circulate online.
It was more than four and a half hours before the winner of the game's most prestigious individual award was due to be announced at a star-studded event at London's Palladium Theatre.
The widespread sharing of the article caused confusion online, with some wondering whether France Football - the organisers of the award - had fallen short at the final hurdle of keeping the winner, who was voted for by journalists at the end of September, under wraps.
That was until further digging on the Ballon d'Or website revealed that some of the other favourites to win the award - Barcelona's Lamine Yamal, Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe, and Lionel Messi of Inter Miami - had also had similar pieces penned and published about them.

'Proud and honoured to be here'published at 19:53 GMT 26 October
Spain

Spain boss Luis de la Fuente, speaking to DAZN: "I am proud and honoured to be here for myself and for Spanish football.
"Spanish culture has been recognised worldwide. We worked very hard to get here."
De la Fuente arrives in Londonpublished at 19:53 GMT 26 October

Spain's Luis de la Fuente has arrived in London for tonight's awards ceremony.
De la Fuente is one of the nominees for coach of the year alongside Mikel Arteta, Unai Emery, Vincent Kompany and Luis Enrique.
Image source, EPA

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Get Involvedpublished at 19:49 GMT 26 October
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Kane for the Ballon d’Or. A clear and obvious winner. Best player to never win it? I would have to say Thierry Henry.
Toby, Solihull
The fact that Thierry Henry never won a Ballon d'Or is criminal. What a player.
Forrest, United States
Best player that never won it is the incomparable Paolo Maldini. The finest defender I've ever seen.
Mal, Lytham St Annes
Ceremony start pushed back 30 minutespublished at 19:47 GMT 26 October

The start of the ceremony has been pushed back 30 minutes to 20:30 GMT. No reason has been given but there are big crowds there.

Past winners Shevchenko and Owen arrivepublished at 19:45 GMT 26 October

Past winners, Andriy Shevchenko and Michael Owen joined guests on the red carpet.
Ukraine's Shevchenko won the award in 2004, and is the only player to be awarded the prestigious award from his nation.
The 2001 winner, Owen, is one of four English players to have won the award, and is the second-youngest player to win the individual award behind Ronaldo.
Image source, EPA
Image source, PA Media
Which Premier League players have come close to winning the Ballon d'Or?published at 19:43 GMT 26 October
Keifer MacDonald
BBC Sport

There wasn't much that Dennis Bergkamp missed out on during his career, but winning the Ballon d'Or was one of them.
The Dutchman is regarded as one of the greatest overseas players to have played in the Premier League following his record-breaking move to Arsenal from Inter Milan in 1995.
When he made the move to Highbury, he did so as one of the best playmakers in European football, having recorded back-to-back top-three finishes in the Ballon d'Or.
In 1992, he finished only behind AC Milan's Marco Van Basten, who won the award, and Barcelona's Hristo Stoichkov.
Although he finished one place higher the following season, he was beaten to the award by Inter Milan's Roberto Baggio.
He wasn't the only Arsenal attacker who perhaps should have ended his career with the game's highest individual honour - the same could also be said of Thierry Henry.
After joining the Gunners from Juventus in 1999, the Frenchman quickly established himself as one of the most potent strikers in European football.
During his eight seasons in north London, Henry helped Arsenal win two Premier League titles — one of which came during an unbeaten season - and reach the Champions League final.
He became the first player this century to record at least 20 goals and 20 assists in a single season in one of Europe's top five leagues.
The closest Henry, Arsenal's all-time leading goalscorer, came to winning the award was in 2003, when he finished second behind Juventus and Czech Pavel Nedved.