Lionel Messi has been named on the 30-man shortlist for the 2026 Ballon d’Or, adding a seventeenth nomination in two decades at football’s individual peak. At 39 and playing his club football in Major League Soccer, the Argentine is one selection short of Cristiano Ronaldo’s career record of 18.
Messi is the sole MLS representative on the men’s list, revealed on Tuesday by France Football and UEFA. Ronaldo is absent again: the Portuguese has not appeared on the shortlist since 2022, even as his record for career appearances continues to stand.
The gap in Ballon d’Or history
Where the two rivals now sit on total nominations:
- Cristiano Ronaldo: 18
- Lionel Messi: 17
- Paolo Maldini: 13
Wins tell a different story. Messi’s eight Ballon d’Ors, the last collected in 2023 after his move to Inter Miami, put him three clear of Ronaldo’s five and remain the outright record.
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A shortlist topped by a World Cup winner
The 30-man list is led by Ferran Torres, the 26-year-old Spain forward whose extra-time goal beat Argentina 1-0 in the World Cup final on 19 July. Torres has since joined Paris Saint-Germain from Barcelona, taking the French champions’ tally on the shortlist to ten current players, nine of them from the squad that won back-to-back Champions Leagues.
Harry Kane, Kylian Mbappé, Erling Haaland, Lamine Yamal and reigning holder Ousmane Dembélé are the other headline names. Yamal is nominated for the senior award and for the Kopa Trophy for the world’s best under-21 player, which he has won for the last two years.
Miami weighed against a Champions League double
Argentina’s summer ended in a runners-up medal, but Messi’s Ballon d’Or file is not built only on the World Cup. Voters weigh his club season in MLS with Inter Miami and Argentina’s route to the final alongside the credentials of PSG’s Champions League double winners and Spain’s title-winning contingent.
No player has ever won nine Ballon d’Ors. Messi already holds the outright record with eight, three clear of Ronaldo, and a ninth would extend a mark only he owns, arriving from an unlikely address in south Florida. The verdict on his 2026 exploits is delivered at the London Palladium on Monday 26 October.
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