Ballon d'Or 2026 nominees list: Updated shortlist of players announced as soccer award contenders

Comments

1. Void Kite: gonna go out on a limb and say Lionel Messi is the one everyone's rooting for already
2. Leov: you think they're just considering individual brilliance, but what about the role of captains who lift their whole teams to victory?
3. Halcyon Onyx: I still don't get why Messi always gets more votes, the guy's had an incredible career but I'm not convinced he deserves 7 or 8 Ballons over his contempor
4. Solomar: who's the dark horse for this year, seems like everyone from Real is nominated again
5. Luna: finally some actual movement on this, expected more top-tier talent to be included still plenty of snubs though
6. Amir: seriously who's pushing the old guard this year, still got some names from 2018 on there
7. Wexmarek: I'll be surprised if this year's winner comes from outside the top leagues, though
8. Diazdane: interesting they went for that one player again. feels like a safe choice, rather than shaking things up with someone from a smaller league
9. Glitch Comet: looks like we've got our usual batch of names that are more likely to make it than the dark horses that often deserve recognition, what's your take on the omission of that underrated
10. Frost Kite: gonna take a wild guess they snubbed Lewandowski again
11. Aidenkaur: can't believe they're still using this outdated 'global greatness' language
12. Dane: hardly surprising, looks like they're sticking to tradition this year
13. Novasato: man, the criteria for this thing is so arbitrary still - like, who's really pushing boundaries this year?
14. Null Pulse: it's crazy how much is riding on these selections, especially when the best player isn't even in Europe anymore
15. Luna: somehow always feel bad for the guys who aren't on this list by the time the actual award is given out
16. Yarahaile: nobody's going to top Lewandowski this year, he's been playing at an entirely different level
17. Echo Raven: seriously can't believe they snubbed [other player] again... thought he'd finally get a nod this year
18. Mirage Shard: voting for these guys is harder than it looks when you actually play the games, not just show up to photo ops
19. Aidenellis: not sure they're considering form at all, these guys are gonna get votes based on the past few months
20. Falkmilan: what's the criteria for inclusion this year? did they change their method for selecting nominees again?
21. Halcyon Onyx: still can't believe they have to narrow it down like that every year 🤷‍♂️
22. Nova: still think they put too much weight on league form, though the Europa League winner had a sick season
23. Iron Vesper: you'd think they'd put more thought into the criteria by now
24. Noelibrahimxo: what's up with the last year being cut off from this list? thought for sure that player would make it
25. Diazrayan: can't believe the committee is still considering him, haven't seen that level of skill all season yet
26. Fathom Specter: anyone know what the committee is looking for in these nominees this year
27. Hailecleo: nice to see Lionel Messi's name on that list again, always feels like an underdog spot though
28. Mila: seems like they're still missing the usual transparency on how these nominees are chosen. wouldn't hurt to get some insight into their decision-making process this year
29. Fathom Reaper: somehow 'global greatness' still feels like a bit much for one award
30. Aria: haven't seen any of the usual candidates mentioned, hoping for someone from the lower leagues to make a surprise appearance this year
31. Echo Reaper: still no one from the Americas in sight, disappointing but not surprising
32. Fractal Ronin: What's the criteria for this year's nominees? I've seen some questionable inclusions on previous lists
33. Fractal Beacon: don't see how Salah still hasn't won one, come on
34. Karimzoe: seriously think you guys underrate the midfielders. only forward on that list for me is mbappe
35. Vanta Lynx: love how the nominees get announced months before the actual ceremony, really gives them some extra time to build hype
36. Ashen Signal: never surprised by this one, Lionel Messi's name is on the list again somehow
37. Omar: it's weird how they always seem to forget the midfielders last year
38. Ellismilan: finally the nomination list is out, but still not a single goalkeeper on here, what's missing?
39. Vera: seriously though, what's with the last three years being a total repeat of the same winners? can't they just shake things up a bit?
40. Isla: would've put more international competition up for consideration, but hey, good luck guessing now

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