Ballon d'Or ceremony to come as France Football countdown 2026 nominees

Stay up-to-date with all things Ballon d'Or as we give you live coverage of this year's star-studded ceremony in London.

In 22nd place we have the Japanese star ...

And next out ...

First out of the hat is Vivienne Miedema ...

The nominee countdown for the women's Ballon d'Or is about to start ...

The CIES Football Observatory have revealed their best players for 2026 ...

Here's a rundown of the three favourites for the award tonight ...

Well we were due to get the first names in the Ballon d'Or countdown at 5pm CET, but we're still waiting. It's not a great omen for tonight folks!

Is the long wait going to be over later?

There's one man who won't be with us tonight. To be fair, he's probably not got room for another trophy in his cabinet ...

Kylian Mbappe has officially arrived in London ...

We should have the start of the men's Ballon d'Or countdown in the next 10 minutes.

Outside of the Ballon d'Or, there are several reports claiming that Michael Carrick will be sacked by Manchester United after their disastrous start to the season. What are the chances they try to bury the news whilst the ceremony is taking place?

In case you have forgotten, here are the 30 nominees for the main award tonight ...

A rumour circulating from the Spanish press here ...

And the Blaugrana have touched down in the English capital ...

What a day it is for the Club America delegation ...

But here's a report from the Madrid dressing room which claims they are confident about Mbappe's victory tonight.

The Athletic reports that Florentino Perez will not be in London for tonight's ceremony. Does that spell the end of Kylian Mbappe's chances?

The main man has arrived ...

Here's a bit more on how tonight will work from our friends at The Independent.

That Ballon d'Or website says that France Football will start counting down the 2026 nominees from 30 in 45 minutes, so stay tuned for that folks.

Here is the order of things from the official Ballon d'Or website ...

Who do you think should take home the trophy as the world's best player? Let us know in the comments below.

Who will take the ultimate prize later? It looks like it will be between three names - Harry Kane, Lamine Yamal and Kylian Mbappé.

Good afternoon everyone and welcome to our live blog of the 2026 Ballon d'Or ceremony. We'll be keeping you up to date with all the goings on in London ahead of the announcement later tonight, with the countdown for this year's men's nominees set to start in the next hour.