The 2026 Ballon d'Or is being awarded on Monday 26 October, with Virgilio running live coverage of the ceremony. According to Virgilio, Harry Kane is challenging Lamine Yamal for the sport's most coveted individual prize, while Kylian Mbappé remains hopeful of winning it.
Coverage of the event points to a tight race at the top. La Gazzetta dello Sport's live reporting, cited in the same roundup, describes Kane as the big favourite, with Mbappé and Yamal seen as his closest rivals. Il Post framed the contest around the same three names, asking whether the award will go to Kane, Yamal or Mbappé.
Further down the standings, Sky Sport's live classification placed Lautaro Martínez 22nd. Eurosport.it reported the same position for Martínez and also noted that Lionel Messi will not attend the ceremony.
The roundup did not include vote totals or the final order beyond Martínez's placement, so the winner had not been confirmed in the material available at the time of publication.
The Ballon d'Or is football's best-known annual individual honour, and this year's shortlist has drawn attention to a contest between established and emerging forwards. The live blogs from Virgilio, La Gazzetta dello Sport, Sky Sport and Eurosport.it were all tracking the results as they were announced.
What to watch next: the confirmed final ranking and the winner's identity as the ceremony concludes.
