Ballon d’Or 2026: Nigeria among 20 African countries to vote [Full list]

Nigeria is among 20 African countries eligible to vote for the 2026 Ballon d’Or after ranking among the top 100 nations in the FIFA men’s world ranking used to determine the award’s international jury.

The 20 African countries represented in the 100-member jury, along with their FIFA rankings, are:

• Morocco — 6th
• Senegal — 18th
• Egypt — 24th
• Nigeria — 26th
• Algeria — 29th
• Côte d’Ivoire — 31st
• DR Congo — 41st
• Cameroon — 43rd
• Mali — 53rd
• South Africa — 54th
• Tunisia — 57th
• Burkina Faso — 62nd
• Cabo Verde — 64th
• Ghana — 65th
• Guinea — 81st
• Gabon — 84th
• Angola — 87th
• Uganda — 89th
• Zambia — 90th
• Benin — 94th

According to the Ballon d’Or regulations published by French sports newspaper L’Équipe, the award is decided by an international jury of specialist journalists, with one representative from each of the top 100 countries in the FIFA men’s world ranking.

The regulations specify that the FIFA ranking in effect when the nominee lists are published on September 8, 2026, will be used to determine the jury.

Each juror will select 10 players from the 30 nominees for the men’s award. The nominees are selected by the editorial staff of France Football, members of the L’Équipe editorial team, at least one juror from the previous edition and UEFA ambassadors.

The voting system awards 15 points to a juror’s first-ranked player, followed by 12, 10, eight, seven, five, four, three, two and one point for players ranked from second to 10th.

The player with the highest overall points total will win the Ballon d’Or.

In the event of a tie, the regulations provide for a series of tie-breakers. Players level on points will first be separated by the number of first-place votes received. If the tie persists, second-place votes will be considered, followed by third-place votes and so on.

Any dispute arising from the voting process will be determined by the editor-in-chief of France Football, which organises the award.

The 2026 Ballon d’Or ceremony is scheduled to take place in London on October 26, when the winners of the men’s and women’s awards will be announced.

The men’s award covers performances during the 2025–26 season, with the assessment period running from August 3, 2025, to July 19, 2026.