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PALLADIUM THEATRE, LONDON — After a whole year of goals, trophies, speculation, and celebration, the time to learn the winner of the 2026 Ballon d’Or has finally arrived.

Tonight, France Football will reveal the winner at the award gala, which has been won by four different players in each of the last four years.

For the first time, the ceremony will be held outside France, as they honor the first winner of the Ballon d’Or, Stanley Matthews, by holding the 70th trophy presentation at the Palladium Theatre in London, England.

Hosted by Kate Scott and Thierry Henry, this year’s ceremony will reveal the 2026 Ballon d’Or winner for the men’s and women’s side, as well as a host of other awards including best coach, best goalkeeper, best young player, and best club.

MORE: List of 30 nominees for the 2026 Ballon d’Or | Look back at the 2025 award ceremony

Live updates of Ballon d’Or trophy ceremony, commentary, video

All times ET.

4:12 p.m. —Vozinha is here and diligently taking plenty of time signings autographs for kids on the red carpet. It’s safe to say that the Ballon d’Or wasn’t on the veteran Cape Verde goalkeeper’s itinerary a few months ago. But then the World Cup happened, including a joust with Lionel Messi, and the 40-year-old is in the mix for the Yashin Trophy.

Imagn Images

4 p.m. — Harry Kane is here. It prompted that very English sort of “whheeeyyy” cheers from a few up here in the circle seating at the Palladium. Talking of very English, the Bayern Munich captain is in a full dinner suit and bow tie. If he was on a different red carpet, you’d think he was the new James Bond. Kane’s Bayern teammates Michael Olise, Luis Diaz and Dayot Upamecano are along for the ride. We already have Diaz and Upamecano’s placements, but former Crystal Palace man Olise is on course for a top-10 finish.

Suiting up with Harry Kane 😮‍💨 #BallonDor https://t.co/tQCcs3my0Y

— FC Bayern München (@FCBayern) October 26, 2026

3:50 p.m. — We have been informed inside the gala that the start of the Ballon d’Or ceremony has been delayed by 30 minutes, now set to start at 4:30 p.m. ET (8:30 p.m. local time). No reason or explanation for the delay has been given.

#BallonDor https://t.co/v9Rgv1l5Ac

— Dom Farrell (@DomFarrell1986) October 26, 2026

3:30 p.m. — The red carpet has concluded and the guests are beginning to take their seats at the Palladium Theatre in London! The event will be starting at the top of the hour!

3:10 p.m. — One of the favorites to win the 2026 Ballon d’Or, Kylian Mbappe, has arrived at the venue in London, setting local youngsters at the barrier scrambling for his autograph. Regardless of the remaining pending voting results, Mbappe has already become the first Frenchman to finish in the Top 10 of the Ballon d’Or standings ever. Can he win his first-ever Ballon d’Or trophy tonight?

Inside the theatre, Mbappe’s arrival alongside Real Madrid teammate Marc Cucurella generated a bit of hubhub for attendees. Sorry Marc, that wasn’t for you. Still, you have Felix Magath’s vote, so it’s all good.

3 p.m. — Michael Owen, the second-youngest player ever to win the Ballon d’Or, and the last English player to win the award, has arrived.

Lamine Yamal has a few years left to break Ronaldo Nazario’s hold (who has also arrived at tonight’s function) on the youngest player to win the trophy, and he would smash the record if he wins today. Meanwhile, a Harry Kane win would snap the 25-year drought for English players in the award.

The 2001 Ballon d’Or winner, Michael Owen, on the red carpet in London #ballondor https://t.co/DPrZjsPO2Z

— Ballon d’Or (@ballondor) October 26, 2026

2:30 p.m. — The family of Stanley Matthews, the first-ever Ballon d’Or winner, has arrived on the red carpet. Honoring the former England international is the reason the event is being held in London this year, the first time the award ceremony has ever been held outside France.

You can read more about the legendary career of Matthews here, including that he played until he was 51 years old!

The family of Sir Stanley Matthews arrive at the Ballon d’Or. The ceremony is in London to mark the 70th anniversary and honour Matthews, who won the first Ballon d’Or in 1956.🏆 https://t.co/MVpkkhncDu

— Ben Jacobs (@JacobsBen) October 26, 2026

2:20 p.m. — There appears to be a bit of an uproar outside the event, as fans are being unruly in their attempts to get closer to the players. Police have had to intervene to keep the peace.

Le barrage qui mène au tapis rouge a bien du mal à tenir, beaucoup de gens veulent s’approcher pour voir les nommés au #Ballondor intervention de la police pour que ça rentre dans le calme @franceinfo https://t.co/cWi9UcbyPq

— Julien Froment (@JulienFroment) October 26, 2026

2 p.m. — Anyway, talking of rankings, here’s how the men’s votes tallied from 12th to 20th

• 11th: Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid)
• 12th: Pau Cubarsi (Barcelona)
• 13th: Achraf Hakimi (PSG)
• 14th: Vitinha (PSG)
• 15th: Declan Rice (Arsenal)
• 16th: Ferran Torres (Barcelona/PSG)
• 17th: Vinicius Jr. (Real Madrid)
• 18th: Marc Cucurella (Chelsea/Real Madrid)
• 19th: Joao Neves (PSG)
• 20th: Willian Pacho (PSG)

1:45 p.m. — Okay, so there’s been a little bit of drama. The Ballon d’Or website published – in error – an article declaring Harry Kane to be the winner of the 2026 men’s Ballon d’Or. Yikes. Then it emerged there were also similarly gushing profiles on Kylian Mbappe and Lamine Yamal. The articles have been taken down now. Organisers have simply prepared for any eventuality. But there’s your podium – pick the order!

Getty Images

1:20 p.m. — The rankings keep rolling in. Here are the men’s results from 21st through to 30th. After a turbulent few days, Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes comes in 27th.

• 21st: Gabriel (Arsenal)
• 22nd: Lautaro Martinez (Inter)
• 23rd: Nuno Mendes (PSG)
• 24th: Luis Dias (Bayern Munich)
• 25th Marquinho (PSG)
• 26th: Dayot Upamecano (Bayern Munich)
• 27th: Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United)
• 28th: Julian Quinones (Al-Qadsiah)
• =29th: William Saliba (Arsenal)
• =29th: Sadio Mane (Al Nassr)

Getty Images

1 p.m. — Reporters are moving to red carpet positions, we’re not far away from the festivities commencing down here in London. In the meantime, here are positions 19 through to 11 in the Ballon d’Or Feminin vote.

• 11th: Yui Hasegawa (Manchester City)
• 12th: Klara Buhl (Bayern Munich)
• 13th: Mariona Caldentey (Arsenal)
• 14th: Wendie Renard (Lyon)
• 15th: Cata Coll (Barcelona)
• 16th: Mapi Leon (Barcelona/London City Lionesses)
• 17th Esmee Brugts (Barcelona)
• 18th: Barbra Banda (Orlando Pride)
• 19th: Tessa Wullaert (Inter Milan/Como)

12:30 p.m. — The first batch of rankings for the Ballon d’Or Feminin have dropped. Here’s what they look like

• 20th: Selma Bacha (Lyon)
• 21st: Scarlett Camberos (Club America)
• 22nd: Manaka Matsukubo (Northern Carolina Courage/Chelsea)
• 23rd: Momoko Tanikawa (Bayern Munich)
• 24th: Kerstin Casparij (Manchester City)
• 25th: Caroline Weir (Real Madrid/Lyon)
• 26th: Alex Greenwood (Manchester City)
• 27th: Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC)
• = 28th: Lorena (Kansas City Current)
• = 28th: Vivianne Miedema (Manchester City)
• = 28th Melvine Malard (Manchester United/Chelsea)

12 p.m. — Not as exciting as Harry Kane, but The Sporting News is also here on location at the ceremony, dressed to impress however much is feasibly possible in middle age. It’s a dour, wet day in the English capital city, but crowds are already flocking around the red carpet area just off Oxford Street. High fences and a decent security presence mean they can’t really see all that much. We’re now inside in the windowless dry of the designated event media room at an adjacent hotel. Glamorous, eh?

11:35 a.m. — Harry Kane is here! One of the favorites to pick up the main award tonight has arrived at London’s Palladium Theatre. Tonight’s venue is a little over eight miles from his beloved Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and it’d be extra special for the former Spurs striker to scoop the award on home soil today.

🚨🚨 Harry Kane and the Bayern Munich squad have arrived in London for the Ballon d’Or! ✅ https://t.co/88d3KyTPRJ

— EuroFoot (@eurofootcom) October 26, 2026

11:04 a.m. — Here at TSN, we’ve given our verdict on who should win. Find out why none of our writers have picked Lamine Yamal and we’ve even gone for a rogue pick on the shortlist.

10:30 a.m. — So who are the frontrunners to win today’s men’s Ballon d’Or? It’s pretty much a two-horse race between Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappe right now according to the bookmakers. Interestingly, Lamine Yamal has dropped out of favor with the bookies having been a real contender up until 24 hours ago. What do they know that we don’t?!

10 a.m. — Welcome to The Sporting News’ coverage of Ballon d’Or day 2026! We’re expecting the rankings of the nominees from places 30 to 11 to be announced late afternoon European time before the ceremony in London gets underway in the evening. 

Ballon d’Or 2026 live results from trophy ceremony

Live Men’s Ballon d’Or rankings 2026

Other Men’s awards

• Kopa Trophy: TBD
• Men’s Coach of the Year: TBD
• Yashin Trophy: TBD
• Gerd Muller Award: TBD
• Men’s Club of the Year: TBD

Live Ballon d’Or Feminin rankings 2026

Other Women’s awards

• Kopa Trophy: TBD
• Yashin Trophy: TBD
• Gerd Muller Trophy: TBD
• Women’s Coach of the Year: TBD
• Women’s Club of the Year: TBD

Other awards

What time does the 2026 Ballon d’Or ceremony start

The red carpet arrivals at the London Palladium Theatre in London, England starts at around 7 p.m. local time, with the ceremony scheduled to start at 8 p.m. and finish by 10 p.m. All times are estimated by event organizers.

Here’s how that arrivals time translates across some of the major territories, keeping in mind that Europe — including the UK — saw daylight savings time end on Sunday, giving them a four-hour time difference from North America this week: