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The date and venue of the Ballon d'Or are now known. The ceremony will take place on Monday 26 October in London, rather than in Paris. For this landmark 70th anniversary edition, the organisation has chosen England as a tribute to the first ever winner of the trophy, created in 1956 by France Football magazine, English international Stanley Matthews, who played for Blackpool.
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This is a circumstantial and temporary choice, though the increasingly international stature of this prestigious award does leave room to imagine the experience could be repeated elsewhere outside France in the coming years. It would not be the first time the ceremony has gone abroad: the 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015 editions all took place in Zurich, Switzerland, during the period when FIFA co-organised the event.
Following a 2025 edition that crowned Ousmane Dembélé, Paris Saint-Germain's forward, and Aitana Bonmatí, Barcelona's midfielder, on 22 September last year, the Ballon d'Or ceremony — jointly organised by France Football and UEFA — returns to a date similar to the 2022, 2023 and 2024 editions, namely late October. This is due to the calendar and the FIFA international break window for national teams, running from 21 September to 6 October.
The Ballon d'Or will honour the best male and female players of the 2025–26 season, taking into account all domestic and international competitions, both at club and international level, including the Champions League and, for the men's award, the upcoming World Cup (11 June to 19 July, hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico). As usual, the winners will be elected by a jury of international journalists — 100 for the men's award, drawn from the top 100 countries in the FIFA rankings, and 50 for the women's award, from the top 50 countries in the FIFA rankings. All the details on Ballondor.com
