Ballon d’Or 2026: Lionel Messi backed by six countries despite fifth-place finish

Lionel Messi was ranked first by voters from six countries in the 2026 Ballon d’Or, despite finishing fifth overall in the final standings. By contrast, Ousmane Dembele, who won the award in 2025, did not receive a single first-place vote.

The voting breakdown, published by France Football and highlighted by Spanish newspaper AS, showed that representatives from Brazil, Argentina, Panama, Belarus, the United Arab Emirates and China all placed Messi at the top of their lists.

Messi’s fifth-place finish meant he ended the competition outside the top four, but his support was spread across a group of countries from South America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. The United Arab Emirates was the only Arab country among those to rank him first.

Dembele finished seventh in the final ranking. Although he was placed second by voters from seven countries, he was not selected as the leading candidate by any of the participating nations.

The French forward received second-place votes from Burkina Faso, China, France, Georgia, Haiti, North Macedonia and Nigeria. Those rankings gave him recognition in several different regions, but they were not enough to produce a first-place vote.

Mbappe receives top rankings in Africa

Kylian Mbappe featured in the voting from China, where he was placed fifth. A voter from Paraguay ranked him third.

Mbappe’s strongest support came from Africa. Nine of the 20 African countries that took part in the ballot selected him in first place.

Erling Haaland also failed to receive a first-place vote. He was ranked second by representatives from Croatia, Northern Ireland and Norway, but no voter placed the Norway striker at the top of their list.

Michael Olise was the only player to be ranked first by the representative from Curacao.