Ballon d’Or 2026: Ceremony Date and U.S.-Relevant Nominees

The direct answer

The 2026 Ballon d’Or ceremony is scheduled for Monday, October 26, 2026, in London. UEFA says this is the award’s 70th edition and its first ceremony in London.

For a U.S. audience, two nomination announcements are directly confirmed by the players’ clubs:

• Lionel Messi is a men’s Ballon d’Or nominee. Inter Miami says this is the 17th nomination of his career.
• Rose Lavelle is a women’s Ballon d’Or nominee. Gotham FC announced her nomination on September 8.

These are nomination records, not winner announcements. The club releases both point forward to the October 26 ceremony.

What each official source establishes

Question	Official source	Supported answer
When and where is the ceremony?	UEFA	October 26, 2026, in London
Is Lionel Messi nominated?	Inter Miami CF	Yes, for the 2026 men’s Ballon d’Or
Is Rose Lavelle nominated?	Gotham FC	Yes, for the 2026 women’s Ballon d’Or
Have these pages announced the winners?	All three	No; they describe the coming ceremony and nominations

The source boundary matters. A ceremony announcement can verify the calendar, but it does not by itself prove that a particular player appears on a shortlist. The club announcements provide that player-specific evidence.

Why the year must appear in the source

Ballon d’Or searches often surface accurate articles from earlier editions. A player’s 2025 nomination does not carry over automatically to 2026, and a past winner list does not identify this year’s winner.

Before sharing a name, use this short check:

1. Confirm that the page explicitly says 2026.
2. Confirm whether it concerns the men’s or women’s Ballon d’Or, or a different award category.
3. Look for the player’s name in a current organizer, federation or club announcement.
4. Keep “nominated” separate from “won.”

For match-specific context on Messi’s club rather than award voting, see the Inter Miami vs Cruz Azul result explainer.

The concise, source-supported status is therefore: the ceremony is set for October 26 in London, and official club announcements confirm Messi and Lavelle as 2026 nominees.