Ballon d'Or rankings 2026: Top candidates, potential award winners with Harry Kane, Lamine Yamal favourites originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.Widely considered the most coveted individual award in football, the Ballon d'Or remains a highly anticipated event each year.Handed out annually in October to the best player in world football the previous season, the Ballon d'Or is the pinnacle of individual football achievement, and it's a the dream of every top player in the world to be honored at the gala.After Ousmane Dembele won the 2025 Ballon d'Or for leading Paris Saint-Germain to its first-ever European title, all the top performers are hoping to register a strong season in their own attempt to hoist the famous trophy.The Sporting News takes a detailed look at who leads the race for the 2026 Ballon d'Or award, and who could be in the mix at the end of the season and after the FIFA World Cup to come in the summer.MORE:A look back at the 2025 Ballon d'Or gala as it happened, and a full list of resultsBallon d'Or rankings 2026: Top candidates, potential award winnersHere are the top 10 players in contention for the Ballon d'Or, ranked by how The Sporting News would hand out the award if the season were to end now.A reminder that performances and outcome at the 2026 World Cup will be considered when voting for the 2026 Ballon d'Or, and will go a long way towards determining the eventual winner.Rankings, stats, and assessments as of Thursday, April 16, 2026.MORE:A deep dive explaining why Raphinha should have won the 2025 Ballon d'Or10) Vitinha (CM, Paris Saint-Germain)At his very best, Vitinha is undoubtedly one of the three finest midfielders in the world.

The 26-year-old's performances down the stretch of the 2024/25 season saw him rocket up the Ballon d'Or list, where he finished an impressive third.Vitinha is astonishingly press-resistant in possession and can pass as well as anyone around the world, able to unlock opponents anywhere on the pitch. He can also snipe a goal from long range, as he has shown consistently on the European stage this season.The problem for Vitinha this season, as well as any PSG player, has been their inconsistency in league play. While the Parisians have remained a force in Europe looking to defend their Champions League crown, they have looked vulnerable in Ligue 1 action, barely clinging to a one-point lead atop the table as Luis Enrique has tried to battle fixture congestion with heavy rotation in domestic matches.Unless Vitinha either stars for PSG down the stretch on both fronts, leads the club to another European title, or helms a deep run for Portugal at the World Cup this summer, his candidacy for this award will likely dip from its top-three place at last year's gala.Vitinha stats 2025/26CompetitionGamesGoalsAssistsLigue 12617Copue de France100Trophee des Champions101UEFA Champions League1461UEFA Super Cup101TOTAL437109) Erling Haaland (CF, Man City)There is always a place for the Premier League top goal scorer on this list, as the player with the most goals in the most visible — and deepest — league in the world is always a top-performing individual.Yet Erling Haaland's candidacy for the 2026 Ballon d'Or is on life support.

While the Norwegian began the season on fire, scoring 14 goals in his first 11 Premier League matches, the output has fallen off a cliff, particularly since the start of the 2026 calendar year. He has scored just three goals from open play in all competitions since the start of January, a minuscule tally by any striker's standards, and certainly his own.While his season-long numbers leave him in contention for now, Man City's early exit from the Champions League has left Haaland with very little opportunity to recover his standing. He will need a furious finish to the Premier League season, plus a strong performance at the World Cup with Norway, to have any chance.MORE:A look at the top goal scorers in the 2025/26 Champions League tournamentErling Haaland stats 2025/26CompetitionGamesGoalsAssistsPremier League30227FA Cup230EFL Cup300UEFA Champions League1080TOTAL453378) Vinicius Jr. (LW, Real Madrid)After the tantrum Vinicius Jr. and Real Madrid threw prior to the 2025 Ballon d'Or award ceremony, unhappy with his failure to capture the famous trophy, his performances last season plummeted.

With Kylian Mbappe leading the charge at Madrid, Vinicius has taken a backseat to the Frenchman's high-flying production in front of goal.Yet all is not lost for Vinicius at the Santiago Bernabeu. An injury to Mbappe through February allowed Vini to retake ownership of Los Blancos, and he excelled in that role with Alvaro Arbeloa in charge. The Brazilian scored in three of his side's first four Champions League knockout matches with Mbappe out due to injury, also scoring six goals in league play since the start of February after bagging just five prior to that including a brutal 13-match goalless