Ferran Torres Leads PSG's Ballon d'Or Contenders
Ferran Torres, the man whose decisive strike shattered Argentina and sealed Spain’s World Cup glory in July, now stands at the heart of the men’s Ballon d’Or race.
The 26-year-old forward, freshly installed at Paris Saint-Germain after his summer move from Barcelona, headlines a 30-man shortlist unveiled in Paris on Tuesday. He is one of six Spanish world champions in the running, joined by 2024 Ballon d’Or winner Rodri and last year’s runner-up, the prodigious Lamine Yamal.
PSG’s Ballon d’Or army
Torres arrives in a dressing room already overflowing with contenders. He links up with last year’s Ballon d’Or holder Ousmane Dembele, one of nine PSG players nominated after the club’s back-to-back Champions League triumphs.
With Torres included, PSG now boast 10 current players on the list. It is a show of power as much as prestige.
Among them, Fabian Ruiz stands alone in a rare club: he is the only player on the shortlist to have lifted both the Champions League and the World Cup in 2026.
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, the electric Georgian winger who tormented defences during PSG’s successful Champions League defence, is there too. So are Portuguese midfielders Vitinha and Joao Neves, both central to the French club’s dominance in Europe.
Torres himself comes off a season in which he not only won the World Cup but also claimed La Liga with Barcelona in May before trading Catalonia for Paris. Few players arrive at a Ballon d’Or ceremony with a more complete trophy haul.
Messi stays, Ronaldo falls away
On a night of familiar names and sharp absences, one statistic leapt out: Lionel Messi has been nominated for a 17th time.
The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner, now at Inter Miami in MLS, again forces his way into the conversation after dragging an ill-disciplined Argentina side all the way to the World Cup final. They barely laid a glove on Spain in that one-sided showpiece, needing almost 120 minutes to register a single shot, but Messi still finished the tournament with eight goals.
Cristiano Ronaldo, his long-time rival in this era-defining duel, is nowhere to be seen on the list this time.
Kylian Mbappe, by contrast, is impossible to ignore. The France star became the first player to win the World Cup Golden Boot twice and surged to the top of the tournament’s all-time scoring charts. His place among the nominees was never in doubt.
Jude Bellingham forced his way into the elite group on the back of a thunderous World Cup for England. The Real Madrid midfielder scored seven times, matching Erling Haaland’s tally and finishing behind only Messi and Mbappe.
England captain Harry Kane, a Bundesliga champion with Bayern Munich, is also included, along with his French club-mate Michael Olise, whose wing play lit up Germany.
Cape Verde’s World Cup hero Vozinha, now 40, earns recognition on the goalkeepers’ list after his role in one of the tournament’s great fairytale runs.
Three of the men’s nominees ply their trade outside Europe: Messi in Miami, Sadio Mane and Julian Quinones in Saudi Arabia, underlining how the Ballon d’Or gaze now stretches far beyond UEFA’s borders.
Women’s race: Putellas returns, Bonmati misses out
The women’s shortlist carries its own twist. Aitana Bonmati, a three-time winner and one of the defining players of her generation, is absent after breaking her leg midway through the season. Injury, not form, has pushed her out of the frame.
Alexia Putellas, her former Barcelona team-mate and the Ballon d’Or winner in 2021 and 2022, is back in the mix. Now with London City Lionesses, she anchors a strong Barcelona-flavoured contingent.
The Catalan giants have seven players on the women’s list, all of whom lifted the Champions League with the club in May. Among them is Poland’s Ewa Pajor, who struck twice in a ruthless 4-0 demolition of Lyon in the final.
The women’s award stretches across continents with even greater reach. Zambian forward Barbra Banda, starring for Orlando Pride in South Africa, makes the cut. So does Mexican attacker Scarlett Camberos, who plays in her home country, along with Malawian striker Temwa Chawinga and American midfielder Rose Lavelle, both based in the NWSL.
Yamal, the future in the present
Lamine Yamal’s season refuses to slow down. Already on the main Ballon d’Or list after his World Cup exploits with Spain, the teenager is also nominated once more for the Young Talent award, a prize he has claimed in each of the last two years.
If Torres’ winning goal in July defined Spain’s present, Yamal’s rise continues to shape their future.
The stage for football’s biggest individual honours is now set. The winners of the men’s and women’s Ballon d’Or, along with the other awards, will be crowned at the London Palladium Theatre on October 26.
