Cristiano Ronaldo misses out on Ballon d’Or shortlist for fourth successive year

Cristiano Ronaldo has been left out of the 2026 Ballon d’Or shortlist for a fourth consecutive year, despite two players from the Roshn Saudi League being included among the nominees.

France Football announced the full list of candidates for the award on Tuesday. The prize is presented to the best player in the world, but Ronaldo, the Al Nassr captain, was again absent from the initial selection.

The two Saudi-based players named were Ronaldo’s Al Nassr team-mate Sadio Mane and Al Qadsiah forward Julian Quinones.

Ronaldo’s omission extends a run that began after he joined the Saudi league. Before that, he had appeared in the preliminary Ballon d’Or nominees’ list in each of the previous 18 years.

The negative sequence started in January 2023, when Ronaldo moved to Al Nassr after terminating his contract with Manchester United. Some have attributed his continued absence from the shortlist to the lower profile of the Roshn Saudi League, as well as his failure to deliver major honours with Al Nassr or Portugal.

However, the inclusion of Quinones has raised fresh questions about that explanation. The Mexico international received his first Ballon d’Or nomination after winning the Saudi league’s top-scorer award in his first season, something Ronaldo has achieved twice.

Quinones also impressed at the 2026 World Cup, scoring four goals and creating another. Mexico were eliminated in the last 16, the same stage at which Portugal’s campaign ended, with Ronaldo scoring three goals at the tournament.

At domestic level, Ronaldo had the stronger team achievement. He led Al Nassr to the Saudi league title, ending a seven-year wait for the club.

The Portugal forward was central to that success, scoring 28 goals in the Roshn Saudi League. That total was five fewer than Quinones’ tally, although the Mexican finished fourth with Al Qadsiah.

Despite Ronaldo’s leading role in Al Nassr’s championship campaign, he was not nominated alongside Mane. The Senegal international scored 10 league goals last season and provided six assists.

Mane’s nomination appears to have been driven mainly by his international form. He helped Senegal reach the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations final and win the trophy, before the title was later withdrawn following an administrative decision by the Confederation of African Football.

His World Cup record was less influential. Mane scored no goals at the 2026 tournament and registered one assist, while Senegal, known as the “Teranga Lions”, were eliminated in the last 32.

That contrast has intensified the debate over Ronaldo’s continued exclusion. If reaching a continental final, combined with a productive domestic campaign, was enough to earn Mane a place among the nominees, questions remain over why Ronaldo was not selected for the 2025 award.

In that year, Ronaldo helped Portugal win the 2025 UEFA Nations League. He had also finished as the Roshn Saudi League’s leading scorer and guided Al Nassr to third place, behind Al Ittihad and Al Hilal.

Nevertheless, he was not included among the Ballon d’Or candidates, leaving continued uncertainty over why he has consistently disappeared from the nominations since moving to Saudi Arabia.

Ronaldo remains one of the award’s most decorated figures. He has appeared in the preliminary Ballon d’Or list 18 times, more than any other player and one ahead of his long-time rival Lionel Messi.

Paolo Maldini is third on the all-time list with 13 nominations, while Johan Cruyff, Franz Beckenbauer and Karim Benzema have each been shortlisted 12 times.