The 70th Ballon d’Or shortlist is here, and football fans worldwide are already debating it.
France Football unveiled the nominees for the 2026 Ballon d’Or on Tuesday via its official X handle, celebrating the best players, coaches, clubs and goalkeepers from the 2025/26 season.
But one big talking point has emerged from Nigeria: *Victor Osimhen is not on the Men’s Ballon d’Or list.
The Napoli/Galatasaray striker, who has been Africa’s biggest Ballon d’Or hope in recent years, was omitted despite a strong club season. His absence is already trending on Nigerian Twitter.
#### *MEN’S BALLON D’OR: SPAIN AND FRANCE DOMINATE*
This year’s men’s list is stacked with 30 names, led by World Cup winners, Champions League stars, and teenage sensations.
*Biggest Names:*
– *Lionel Messi* — Inter Miami/Argentina
– *Kylian Mbappe* — Real Madrid/France
– *Erling Haaland* — Manchester City/Norway
– *Vinicius Jr.* — Real Madrid/Brazil
– *Lamine Yamal* — FC Barcelona/Spain
– *Jude Bellingham* — Real Madrid/England
– *Harry Kane* — Bayern Munich/England
Other Notable Nominees:
Rodri — Man City/Spain, Ousmane Dembele — PSG/France, Bruno Fernandes — Man United/Portugal, Lautaro Martinez — Inter/Argentina, Achraf Hakimi — PSG/Morocco, Sadio Mane — Al-Nassr/Senegal, William Saliba, Declan Rice, Gabriel Magalhaes — All Arsenal.
African Representation: Hakimi and Mane made it. No Nigerian player featured.[Morocco][Senegal]
WOMEN’S BALLON D’OR: BARCELONA AND MAN CITY LEAD
The women’s list also dropped 30 names.
Stars include *Alexia Putellas* — Barcelona/Spain, *Aitana Bonmati’s teammate Claudia Pina*, *Barbra Banda* — Orlando Pride/Zambia, *Khadija Shaw* — Man City/Jamaica, and *Alessia Russo* — Arsenal/England.
African stars *Barbra Banda* and *Temwa Chawinga* — Kansas City/Malawi made the cut.
OTHER CATEGORIES TO WATCH
Men’s Coach of the Year:
Mikel Arteta — Arsenal, Luis de la Fuente — Spain, Luis Enrique — PSG, Vincent Kompany — Bayern, Unai Emery — Aston Villa
*Women’s Coach of the Year:*
Jonatan Giráldez — OL Lyonnes, Pere Romeu — Barcelona Femeni
Men’s Club of the Year:
Arsenal, Bayern Munich, PSG, Bodø/Glimt
*Women’s Club of the Year:*
Barcelona, OL Lyonnes, Bayern Munich, Man City, Club America
Men’s Goalkeeper of the Year:
Thibaut Courtois — Real Madrid, Emiliano Martinez — Aston Villa, David Raya — Arsenal, Yassine Bounou — Al-Hilal
*Men’s Young Talent of the Year:*
Lamine Yamal — Barcelona, Warren Zaire-Emery — PSG, Pau Cubarsi — Barcelona
*Women’s Young Talent of the Year:*
Vicky Lopez — Barcelona, Lily Yohannes — OL Lyonnes
THE BIG CONVERSATION: OSIMHEN SNUB
Victor Osimhen, the 2023 African Player of the Year, was expected by many Nigerian fans to at least make the 30-man shortlist.
His omission means *no Nigerian player will be in contention for the 2026 Men’s Ballon d’Or* — a blow to Super Eagles supporters ahead of World Cup qualifiers.
Fans have taken to X to ask: _“On what basis was this list made?”_ Others argue the Ballon d’Or now favors UCL + Euro performances over goals in other leagues.
The winner will be announced later this year at the ceremony in Paris.FULL MEN’S BALLON D’OR NOMINEES LIST:
Rodri, Messi, Mbappe, Yamal, Bellingham, Cubarsi, Cucurella, Dembele, Luis Diaz, Bruno Fernandes, Haaland, Gabriel, Kane, Hakimi, Kvaratskhelia, Marquinhos, Mane, Lautaro, Nuno Mendes, Michael Olise, Joao Neves, Pacho, Julian Quiñones, Declan Rice, Fabian Ruiz, Ferran Torres, Saliba, Upamecano, Vinicius Jr, Vitinha.
