Explained: How Is The Ballon d’Or Winner Decided And Who Votes

The Ballon d'Or is picked through a voting process |Courtesy – Ballon d'Or

The 2026 Ballon d'Or will be announced in a few hours, with Lamine Yamal, Kylian Mbappe, and Harry Kane widely regarded as the favourites to win the prestigious prize for the first time in history. This year's award is a special event as it is the 70th anniversary of the first time the elusive crown was awarded in 1956.

While France Football Magazine is responsible for conducting the award, the ceremony is taking place at London's London Palladium this time around. This marks the first instance in history of the ceremony being conducted outside France in history. Usually, Paris hosts the special event.

The 2026 award is also the closest race to win the award in recent history with no clear cut favourite to seal the award.

The winner of the Ballon d'Or is decided by a jury consisting of sports journalists, with one representative per country from 100 nations, who are ranked in the top 100 of the FIFA rankings (on 8th September 2026). Meanwhile, for the Women's award, there is one vote from sports reporters from countries that rank in the top 50.

Each person…

Original source: https://www.timesnownews.com/sports