France Football unveiled its list of 30 nominees for the 2026 Ballon d’Or on Tuesday, with Real Madrid represented by four players.
The names on the prestigious shortlist will inevitably be closely analyzed in the coming weeks before the winner of world football’s most famous individual award is officially revealed.
Real Madrid have four players among the 30 contenders: Jude Bellingham, Kylian Mbappé, Vinicius Junior and World Cup winner Marc Cucurella. Their presence once again highlights the strong individual quality within the Spanish giants’ squad.
The Madrid club is also represented in several other award categories. Nineteen-year-old Yan Diomandé has been nominated for the prize recognizing the best young player of the year. He will compete against several of Europe’s biggest young talents, including Barcelona star Lamine Yamal.
In the women’s categories, Lily Yohannes is among the nominees for the best young female player award, while Thibaut Courtois has been selected as a candidate for the best goalkeeper of the year trophy.
Mbappé backs himself for the Ballon d’Or
Among Real Madrid’s four Ballon d’Or nominees, Kylian Mbappé has already made his ambitions perfectly clear.
Asked who he would vote for to win the prestigious award, the French international did not hesitate.
“For the Ballon d’Or? I vote for myself. It is an individual trophy,” Mbappé said.
The Real Madrid forward also responded to critics who have pointed out that he failed to win a major team trophy last season.
“People say that I didn’t win any trophies, but I have never seen a Ballon d’Or won unanimously by a player who ticked every single box every time,” he explained.
Mbappé then highlighted his individual goalscoring performances as one of the strongest arguments in his favor.
“Finishing as the top scorer in all the most important competitions, where all the best players compete… I don’t know if that has ever been achieved before. History should be rewarded,” he added.
With several major stars included on the shortlist, the battle for the 2026 Ballon d’Or promises to be particularly competitive.
🌟 ¡@KMbappe, @ViniJr, @BellinghamJude y @Cucurella3, nominados al Balón de Oro 2026! pic.twitter.com/h4VXSbQDHC
— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadrid) September 8, 2026
Full list of the 30 Ballon d’Or nominees
Jude Bellingham, Pau Cubarsi, Marc Cucurella, Ousmane Dembélé, Luis Diaz, Bruno Fernandes, Gabriel, Erling Haaland, Achraf Hakimi, Harry Kane, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Lamine Yamal, Sadio Mané, Marquinhos, Kylian Mbappé, Lautaro Martinez, Nuno Mendes, Lionel Messi, Michael Olise, Joao Neves, Julian Quiñones, Willian Pacho, Declan Rice, Rodri, Fabian Ruiz, William Saliba, Ferran Torres, Dayot Upamecano, Vitinha and Vinicius Junior.
For Real Madrid, the nominations confirm the club’s strong presence across several categories, but much of the attention will inevitably focus on Mbappé and whether his exceptional individual statistics will be enough to earn him the first Ballon d’Or of his career.
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