Ferran Torres Leads Ballon d'Or Shortlist as Spain Dominates
Ferran Torres, the man whose strike shattered Argentina and sealed Spain’s World Cup glory in July, now fronts football’s most glittering roll call.
The 26-year-old, freshly installed at Paris Saint-Germain after his summer move from Barcelona, headlines a 30-man shortlist for the men’s Ballon d’Or announced in Paris on Tuesday. His inclusion caps a year in which he not only delivered the decisive goal on the biggest stage of all, but also lifted La Liga with Barça before swapping Catalonia for the French capital.
He is far from the only Spanish World Cup winner in the frame. Six members of that triumphant squad make the cut, among them 2024 Ballon d’Or holder Rodri and last year’s runner-up Lamine Yamal, who continues to blur the line between prodigy and finished article.
Putellas returns, Bonmati misses out
The women’s list carries its own jolt. Aitana Bonmati, a three-time winner and the dominant midfielder of her generation, is absent after breaking her leg midway through the season. Her injury opened a gap that no one on the panel felt able to overlook.
Alexia Putellas, though, is back in the conversation. The 2021 and 2022 winner, now with London City Lionesses after her Barcelona exit, is among the contenders again. She is joined by six other players who helped Barça storm to the women’s Champions League title in May, including Poland forward Ewa Pajor, who struck twice in the 4-0 demolition of Lyon in the final.
PSG’s Ballon d’Or army
If there is a single club that dominates this year’s men’s field, it is PSG. Torres arrives to swell an already formidable contingent: nine of his new team-mates, all of whom have won the Champions League in each of the last two seasons, also make the list. With him, that takes the Parisian presence to 10 current players.
Among them, Fabian Ruiz stands alone in a particular club of his own: he is the only player on the shortlist to have won both the Champions League and the World Cup in 2026.
PSG’s European run has reshaped the Ballon d’Or landscape. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, the electric Georgian winger who lit up their Champions League defence, is nominated, as are Portuguese midfielders Vitinha and Joao Neves, two of the campaign’s most influential lieutenants.
France international Ousmane Dembele, last year’s Ballon d’Or winner and now reunited with Torres in Paris, is also on the list, underlining just how much star power has been concentrated in the French champions’ dressing room.
Messi in again, Ronaldo out
One name refuses to fade. Lionel Messi, already an eight-time Ballon d’Or winner, collects his 17th nomination. Even at this stage of his career, now with Inter Miami in MLS, he continues to bend major tournaments to his will.
He dragged a combustible, ill-disciplined Argentina all the way to the World Cup final, where they laboured for almost 120 minutes before registering a first shot on goal in a one-sided defeat to Spain. It was not the ending he craved, but his personal impact on the tournament still forced its way into the voting.
Cristiano Ronaldo, his long-time rival in this era-defining duel, is missing from the list this time. The omission underlines a generational shift that has been gathering pace for several seasons.
Three of the men’s nominees are now based outside Europe: Messi in the United States, and Sadio Mane and Julian Quinones in Saudi Arabia, a reminder that the Ballon d’Or is increasingly following the global flow of talent rather than just the traditional European axis.
Kane, Mbappe, Bellingham headline chasing pack
The rest of the men’s shortlist reads like a snapshot of the sport’s new power brokers.
Harry Kane, who finally added a major league title to his CV by winning the Bundesliga with Bayern Munich, is included, as is his French team-mate Michael Olise, whose wing play has tormented defences all season.
Jude Bellingham earns his place after a storming World Cup with England. The Real Madrid midfielder scored seven times at the tournament, matching Erling Haaland’s total and finishing behind only Messi (eight) and Kylian Mbappe, who hit 10.
Mbappe’s numbers keep rewriting the record books. He becomes the first player to win the World Cup Golden Boot twice and now sits alone at the top of the tournament’s all-time scoring chart. Unsurprisingly, his name is etched onto the shortlist once again.
Lamine Yamal’s year takes on another layer. Beyond his senior nomination, he is also up for the Young Talent award, a prize he has already claimed in each of the last two seasons. A third would underline just how far ahead of the curve he remains.
Vozinha, the 40-year-old goalkeeper who became a cult hero during Cape Verde’s fairytale World Cup run, is recognised on the specialist goalkeeper list, a nod to one of the most compelling stories of the tournament.
Women’s field widens its reach
The women’s Ballon d’Or list stretches the map even further.
Alongside the Barcelona contingent and Putellas, several stars from beyond Europe force their way into the spotlight. Zambian forward Barbra Banda, now with Orlando Pride in South Africa, makes the cut. So does Mexican attacker Scarlett Camberos, who plays domestically in Mexico.
Malawian striker Temwa Chawinga and American midfielder Rose Lavelle, both currently in the NWSL, also appear, underlining the award’s growing commitment to recognising excellence beyond the European club game.
The contrast with the men’s list is stark. While only three male nominees ply their trade outside Europe, the women’s field feels far more geographically balanced, reflecting where the game is growing fastest and where new stars are emerging.
All roads lead to London
The debate now shifts from who made the list to who can actually win it.
That argument will rage until October 26, when the winners of both the men’s and women’s Ballon d’Or, along with the Young Talent and goalkeeper honours, are unveiled at the London Palladium Theatre.
On a night built for spotlights and legacies, the question is simple: does this year belong to the old guard clinging to their thrones, or to the new wave already kicking down the door?
