Pecohub The race for the 2026 Ballon d’Or will reach its climax on October 26, when the 70th edition of the award ceremony is scheduled to hold in London.
With the nominees already announced, attention has shifted to how the winners will be selected and who will emerge with football’s most prestigious individual honour.
According to Ballon d’Or, outcome, however, will not be determined by public opinion or speculation but by a voting process organised by France Football, involving an international jury of specialist journalists.
Here is a breakdown of how the voting system works, who is eligible to vote and what happens if two players finish with the same number of points.
Who votes for the Ballon d’Or?
The winners are selected by an international jury of specialist journalists representing different countries.
For the men’s award, the jury comprises one journalist from each of the top 100 countries in the FIFA rankings. For the women’s award, representatives come from the top 50 countries in the rankings.
The FIFA rankings in force when the nominee lists were published on September 8, 2026, determine which countries are eligible to have representatives on the jury.
The system is designed to draw votes from journalists across different countries rather than leave the decision to a single panel or football governing body.
How are the nominees selected?
Before voting begins, a shortlist of 30 players is compiled for the award.
According to the regulations, the shortlist is prepared by the editorial staff of France Football, members of the L’Équipe editorial team and at least one member of the previous edition’s jury.
The selection process also involves UEFA ambassadors. Former Portugal international Luis Figo and Italian football coach Fabio Capello participate in the selection of nominees for the men’s award, while Nadine Kessler is involved in the women’s award.
Once the shortlist has been finalised, jury members vote to determine the overall winner.
How does the voting system work?
Each jury member selects 10 players from the 30-player shortlist and ranks them in descending order of merit.
Points are then allocated according to each journalist’s ranking, with the highest-ranked player receiving 15 points and the 10th player receiving one point.
The points are distributed as follows:
First place — 15 points
Second place — 12 points
Eighth place — 3 points
Ninth place — 2 points
Tenth place — 1 point
The points awarded by all eligible jury members are added together, and the player with the highest aggregate score wins the Ballon d’Or.
This means that the winner is determined by the combined rankings submitted by the international jury, rather than the number of journalists who simply include a player in their top 10.
