The nominations for the 2026 Ballon d'Or have been confirmed, with Harry Kane, Lamine Yamal and Kylian Mbappe among the headline names on the 30-man shortlist. Paris Saint-Germain are the best represented team, with 10 players from the side that won their second consecutive Champions League title last season all up for nomination. Following their World Cup success in the United States, Canada and Mexico over the summer, Spain have six players in contention for the award, more than any other nation. But the standout players that look set to battle it out are Kane, Yamal and Mbappe, with the trio enjoying spectacular individual seasons for both club and country. No player from Europe's top five leagues scored more goals across all competitions than Kane's 64 in 2025-26 (including the Club World Cup), while he also lifted the Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal trophies with Bayern Munich.He also netted six goals at the World Cup, marking only the third time an England player had scored six goals in a major tournament, after Gary Lineker (1986) and Kane himself in 2018, although team-mate Jude Bellingham subsequently went one better with seven goals at the competition as the Three Lions finished third.Yamal, meanwhile, won LaLiga with Barcelona and scored 16 goals in the league, the joint-fourth highest tally in the division. His 225 completed dribbles were also more than any other player across Europe's top five leagues.At 19 years and six days, Yamal also became the third-youngest player to play in a World Cup final, after Pele in 1958 (17y 249d) and Giuseppe Bergomi in 1982 (18y 201d), going on to help Spain defeat Argentina 1-0 at MetLife Stadium. Mbappe registered 43 goals in 47 appearances in all competitions for Real Madrid last season but was unable to lift any silverware, something that could go against him. He made history at the World Cup, though, becoming the competition's all-time top scorer by taking his total to 22 goals in just 22 games.Mbappe's 14 goal involvements (10 goals, four assists) are also the most in a single edition of the tournament on record (since 1966), though France could only finish fourth. OUR 2026 MEN'S BALLON D'OR NOMINEES! #ballondor pic.twitter.com/GQFsH5u5lO— Ballon d'Or (@ballondor) September 8, 2026Rodri, who won the award in 2024, is also in with a shot, while Fabian Ruiz is another name in the mix after winning Ligue 1, the Champions League and the World Cup. Lionel Messi has been nominated for the first time since 2023, when he scooped the award for the eighth time after his move to Inter Miami, while Bellingham and Declan Rice join Kane as the other English players on the shortlist.Should Bayern star Kane win the Ballon d'Or, he would be the third male player from England to win the award and the first since Michael Owen did so back in 2001. There are also some surprise names in contention. Julian Quinones, of Al-Qadsiah and Mexico, has been nominated after his fine displays at the World Cup, while Al-Nassr and Senegal's Sadio Mane was also included on Friday's shortlist.The women's shortlist is dominated by Barcelona players after their Champions League success, although two-time Ballon d'Or winner Aitana Bonmati misses out. Alexia Putellas and Mapi Leon, both of whom have joined London City Lionesses this summer, are among the nominees, along with Esmee Brugts, Claudia Pina, Caroline Graham Hansen, Ewa Pajor, Patri Guijarro and Cata Coll.Khadija Shaw was also nominated after leading Manchester City to the Women's Super League title, with team-mates Vivienne Miedema, Alex Greenwood, and Kerstin Casparij and Yui Hasegawa also on the shortlist. Alessia Russo, who finished third on the podium last year, has been nominated again, as has her Arsenal team-mate Mariona Caldentey.Full 30-man Ballon d'Or shortlist: Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid and England), Pau Cubarsi (Barcelona and Spain), Marc Cucurella (Chelsea, Real Madrid and Spain), Ousmane Dembele (PSG and France), Luis Diaz (Bayern and Colombia), Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United and Portugal), Gabriel Magalhaes (Arsenal and Brazil), Erling Haaland (Man City and Norway), Achraf Hakimi (PSG and Morocco), Harry Kane (Bayern and England), Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (PSG and Georgia), Lamine Yamal (Barcelona and Spain), Sadio Mane (Al-Nassr and Senegal), Marquinhos (PSG and Brazil), Lautaro Martinez (Inter and Argentina), Kylian Mbappe (Real Madrid and France), Nuno Mendes (PSG and Portugal), Lionel Messi (Inter Miami and Argentina), Joao Neves (PSG and Portugal), Michael Olise (Bayern and France), Willian Pacho (PSG and Ecuador), Julian Quinones (Al-Qadsiah and Mexico), Declan Rice (Arsenal and England), Rodri (Manchester City, Barcelona and Spain), Fabian Ruiz (PSG and Spain), William Saliba (Arsenal and France), Ferran Torres (Barcelona, PSG and Spain), Dayot Upamecano (Bayern and France), Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid and Brazil) and Vitinha (PSG and Portugal). 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