With less than two weeks to go before Ballon d’Or voting closes, many leading candidates are campaigning hard to be awarded football’s top individual honour. This self-promotion is a relatively recent development in a team sport where, until a few years ago, the top individual prize went largely unnoticed until it was time to present it.
But now, the Ballon d’Or dominates the football conversation during the months when the new European season is still finding its feet. The trophy will be presented on October 26, while the final sprint began on September 8 when France Football, the award organiser, released the list of 30 candidates to succeed Ousmane Dembele. The ceremony will be in London, even though only five of the 30 nominees play in the English Premier League.
The award carries no cash prize, but it has become worth increased income and status to players and their teams. Many stars have related bonuses in their boot contracts while the award also increases their overall marketing value, and that of their club.
The two all-time leading Ballon d’Or winners, Lionel Messi, who has picked up the trophy eight times, and Cristiano Ronaldo, who won five times, both have annual sponsorship income estimated by Forbes at more than 65 million dollars. Clubs can expect to sell more merchandise if one of their players wins. Some 100 invited journalists –- one representative from each of the top 100 countries in the FIFA rankings -– will cast votes.
With no clear favourite, the stars and their PR agencies are stepping up their campaigns. Achievements are shamelessly paraded to scrape together votes. ‘I deserve it’ “For me, Mbappe and I, we’re the two best players in the world,” Lamine Yamal, who has won the World Cup and La Liga in 2026, said in