The Ballon d’Or leaves Paris for London as the award celebrates its 70th anniversary
The Ballon d’Or ceremony, football’s most prestigious individual awards event honoring the best male and female players in the world, will move from its traditional home in Paris to London this year. Organizers France Football magazine and UEFA confirmed on Thursday that the ceremony will take place in the English capital on October 26.
The decision marks a significant shift for the event, which has long been associated with Paris, and comes in the 70th year of the award. The very first Ballon d’Or was won in 1956 by England great Stanley Matthews, making London a symbolic location for the landmark.
The move also comes at a time when English football enjoys a strong presence on the European stage. London is home to England captain and record goalscorer Harry Kane, while Arsenal’s women’s team recently clinched their first Premier League title in 22 years and prepare for Saturday’s Champions League final against Paris Saint-Germain.
Kane is expected to be one of the main contenders for this year’s Men’s Ballon d’Or after an exceptional season with Bayern Munich. The England striker has scored 61 goals in 51 games across all competitions, the best scoring return of his career. He had 14 goals in the Champions League, where Bayern Munich narrowly lost to PSG in the semi-finals, as well as five goals for England during the World Cup qualifiers.
The current Men’s Ballon d’Or winner is Ousmane Dembelewho collected the award in Paris last year after helping PSG secure their first ever Champions League title. Demble has scored 19 goals in 39 games for PSG this season, although he only started 11 games during their Ligue 1 winning campaign.
The French forward also played a key role during PSG’s Champions League run, scoring seven goals ahead of the final against Arsenal. One of those strikes was the crucial semi-final win over Bayern Munich. However, injuries disrupted part of his season and limited his involvement with the French national team, causing him to miss five of France’s six World Cup qualifiers. Aitana Bonmati will remain one of the top contenders in line for her fourth award. (Photo by Reuters)
In the women’s category, Spain and Barcelona star Aitana Bonmati will again be among the leading names in the fights. Bonmat has won the Women’s Ballon d’Or for the past three years and remains one of the most iconic figures in world football despite struggling with injuries for most of the season.
The midfielder returned towards the end of Barcelona’s campaign and helped the club complete another historic season. Barcelona secured the quadruple last weekend and also claimed another Women’s Champions League title after beating OL Lyonnes in the final.
Ballon d’Or voting is done by a global panel of journalists. Each voter selects their top 10 players from a shortlist of 30 nominees. The shortlist is prepared jointly by France Football, the newspaper L’Equipe and UEFA.
Moving the ceremony to London is expected to add a new dimension to the event while celebrating the long history of one of football’s most iconic honours.
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Published on:
May 29, 2026 12:06 PM IST