Ferran Torres Leads Ballon d'Or Nominees After World Cup Victory
Ferran Torres, the man whose strike sank Argentina and delivered Spain the World Cup in July, now fronts the 30-man shortlist for the men’s Ballon d’Or announced in Paris on Tuesday.
The 26-year-old forward, who swapped Barcelona for Paris Saint-Germain after that World Cup triumph, is one of six Spanish world champions on the list. He lines up alongside 2024 winner Rodri and last year’s runner-up Lamine Yamal, underlining Spain’s grip on the game’s biggest individual stage.
Torres joins PSG’s Ballon d’Or army
Torres closed out last season with a La Liga title at Barcelona before crossing the Pyrenees to join forces with Ousmane Dembele, last year’s Ballon d’Or winner, at PSG. Dembele, now the face of France’s national team, is one of nine PSG players nominated after the club’s back-to-back Champions League victories.
With Torres added to that core, PSG boast a staggering 10 current players on the men’s list. Among them, Fabian Ruiz stands alone as the only footballer to have lifted both the Champions League and the World Cup in 2026.
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, the electric Georgian winger who lit up PSG’s Champions League defence, is also in the running. So are Portuguese midfielders Vitinha and Joao Neves, central figures in the French champions’ European dominance.
Messi in, Ronaldo out
Lionel Messi’s relationship with the Ballon d’Or rolls on. The eight-time winner has been nominated for a 17th time, extending a record that already looked untouchable. Cristiano Ronaldo, his long-time rival in this era-defining duel, is absent from the list.
Messi drove an ill-disciplined Argentina all the way to the World Cup final, even as they laboured badly against Spain, failing to register a shot for almost 120 minutes in a one-sided showpiece.
The cast around him is formidable. England captain Harry Kane, fresh from winning the Bundesliga with Bayern Munich, makes the cut. So does his club team-mate Michael Olise, the French winger whose form has pushed him into the elite conversation.
Jude Bellingham’s place feels inevitable. The Real Madrid midfielder produced a devastating World Cup for England, scoring seven goals — matching Erling Haaland’s haul and finishing behind only Messi on eight and Kylian Mbappe on 10.
Mbappe’s name is there again as he rewrites World Cup history. The French forward became the first player to win the tournament’s golden boot twice and surged to the top of the all-time scoring charts.
Yamal, already a Ballon d’Or runner-up, features on the main list and also chases a third straight Young Talent award after winning it in each of the last two years.
Vozinha, the 40-year-old goalkeeper who became a cult hero during Cape Verde’s fairytale World Cup run, is recognised on the goalkeepers’ list, a late-career reward that underlines the breadth of this year’s field.
Putellas returns as Bonmati misses out
On the women’s side, the headlines cut both ways. Aitana Bonmati, a three-time winner and the defining midfielder of her generation, misses out after breaking her leg midway through the season. Her absence opens the door for others, but the list still carries a familiar Barcelona flavour.
Alexia Putellas, Ballon d’Or winner in 2021 and 2022 and now with London City Lionesses, returns to the shortlist. She is one of seven players who lifted the women’s Champions League with Barcelona in May to be nominated.
Among that group is Poland striker Ewa Pajor, who scored twice in the 4-0 demolition of Lyon in the final, a performance that effectively sealed her place among the contenders.
Beyond Europe’s borders
The men’s shortlist still leans heavily on European powerhouses, but three nominees play outside the continent. Messi continues his late-career chapter at Inter Miami in MLS. Sadio Mane and Julian Quinones fly the flag for the Saudi league.
The women’s award stretches the map even further. Zambian forward Barbra Banda, starring for Orlando Pride in South Africa, is on the list. So is Mexican attacker Scarlett Camberos, playing in her home country, along with Malawian forward Temwa Chawinga and American midfielder Rose Lavelle, both operating in the NWSL.
The stage is now set. The winners of football’s most coveted individual prizes will be crowned at the London Palladium Theatre on October 26.
