Ballon d'Or 2026: Where to watch, start time, how voting works as Harry Kane, Lamine Yamal eye prize

The 2026 Ballon d’Or ceremony is scheduled for Monday, Oct. 26, at the London Palladium Theatre, according to the Ballon d’Or’s official website.

CBS Sports lists the red carpet for 2 p.m. ET and the ceremony for 3 p.m. ET. DAZN is listed as the viewing option.

Which players are nominated?

Harry Kane, Lamine Yamal, Kylian Mbappé and Lionel Messi are among the 30 nominees for the men’s award.

How does Ballon d’Or voting work?

The men’s award is decided by a jury made up of one journalist from each of the 100 highest-ranked countries in the FIFA men’s ranking. Each juror selects and ranks 10 players from the 30-player shortlist.

The ranking system awards 15 points to a juror’s first choice, followed by 12, 10, 8, 7, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 point for the remaining selections.

The official criteria place individual performance first, followed by team performance and honors, then a player’s class and fair play.

The eligibility window for the 2026 award runs from Aug. 3, 2025, through July 19, 2026.

If players finish tied, the result is separated by comparing first-place votes. If the tie remains, second-place votes and then subsequent rankings are used.

The ceremony’s move to London marks the 70th anniversary of Stanley Matthews winning the inaugural Ballon d’Or in 1956, according to the award’s official website.