FULL LIST: 20 African countries to vote for 2026 Ballon d’Or

Twenty African countries have been selected to participate in the voting process for the 2026 Ballon d’Or award. This decision was made based on the nations' rankings within the top 100 of the FIFA men’s world ranking, which is used to select members of the international jury responsible for determining the award's recipients. France Football, the organization behind the award, stated that each journalist on the jury will individually evaluate and rank 10 players from the list of 30 nominees for the men’s Ballon d’Or.

The 2026 regulations stipulate that the FIFA ranking effective on September 8 would be used to determine the composition of the jury. Once the voting lists were published, each journalist would cast their votes accordingly. For the 10 players chosen by each journalist, the scoring system awards 15 points for the top choice, followed by 12, 10, 8, 7, 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1 point for the tenth-ranked player.

The 20 African nations that will participate in the voting process are Nigeria, Senegal, Egypt, Morocco, Côte d’Ivoire, DR Congo, Cameroon, Mali, South Africa, Tunisia, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Ghana, Guinea, Gabon, Angola, Uganda, Zambia, Benin. These countries are among the 100 nations representing on the FIFA men’s ranking.

Prominent journalists from these African nations have been publicly identified as part of the Ballon d’Or voting panel. These include Samm Audu from Nigeria, Michael Oti Adjei from Ghana, Inas Mazhar from Egypt, Mark Gleeson from South Africa, and Mustapha Badri from Morocco. The Ballon d’Or ceremony is scheduled to take place in London on October 26.

During this event, the winner of the men’s award will be recognized for their outstanding performances during the 2025-26 season, encompassing both domestic and international competitions.