Winning the Ballon d'Or is one of the highest individual honors in football, but the winner is not chosen by a public vote, players or coaches. Instead, the decision is made by an international jury of specialized football journalists.
How is the Ballon d'Or Winner Chosen?
The Ballon d'Or is decided by an international jury of specialized journalists, who rank the nominees according to individual performances, team achievements and fair play.
For the men's award, the jury includes one journalist from each of the top 100 countries in the FIFA men's ranking. For the Women's Ballon d'Or, representatives come from the top 50 countries in the women's ranking.
What criteria are used?
The Ballon d'Or voting process is based on three main criteria. The first — and most important — is the player's individual performance, including how decisive and impressive they were during the period being evaluated.
The second considers collective performances and achievements. Winning major competitions with club or country can therefore strengthen a player's candidacy, although trophies alone do not automatically determine the winner.
The third criterion is class and fair play. This means voters can also consider a player's behavior and sporting conduct when making their decision.
The criteria help explain why the Ballon d'Or is not simply an award for the player with the most goals, assists or trophies. Journalists must evaluate the complete body of work of each candidate.
How does the voting work?
Each juror receives the official list of 30 nominees and selects ten players, ranking them from first to tenth.
The first choice receives 15 points, followed by 12 points for second, 10 for third and eight for fourth. The remaining positions receive seven, five, four, three, two and one point respectively.
Once every ballot has been counted, the player with the highest overall points total wins the Ballon d'Or.
There is also a procedure in case two players finish level on points. The first tiebreaker is the number of first-place votes received. If they remain tied, second-place votes are compared, followed by third-place votes and so on until the tie is broken.
The system makes the Ballon d'Or a global journalistic vote rather than a purely statistical award. Individual brilliance carries the greatest weight, but performances in major matches, collective success and sporting conduct can all influence the final ranking.
In 2026, that process will once again determine football's most prestigious individual winner when the 70th Ballon d'Or ceremony takes place in London on October 26.
