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

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Twenty African nations are eligible to vote for the 2026 Ballon d’Or after making the top 100 of the FIFA men’s world ranking used to determine the award’s international jury.

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France Football, which organises the award, said the men’s Ballon d’Or is decided by an international jury of specialised journalists, with one representative from each of the 100 highest-ranked nations in the FIFA men’s world ranking.

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The 2026 regulations state that the FIFA ranking in effect when the voting lists were published on September 8 was used to determine the jury.n

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Each journalist will select and rank 10 players from the 30 Ballon d’Or nominees.

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The first-ranked player receives 15 points, followed by 12, 10, eight, seven, five, four, three, two and one point for the 10th choice.

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The 20 African nations represented in the 100-country jury are:

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• Morocco — 6th in FIFA ranking
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• Senegal — 18th
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• Egypt — 24th
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• Nigeria — 26th
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• Algeria — 29th
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• Côte d’Ivoire — 31st
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• DR Congo — 41st
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• Cameroon — 43rd
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• Mali — 53rd
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• South Africa — 54th
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• Tunisia — 57th
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• Burkina Faso — 62nd
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• Cabo Verde — 64th
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• Ghana — 65th
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• Guinea — 81st
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• Gabon — 84th
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• Angola — 87th
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• Uganda — 89th
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• Zambia — 90th
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• Benin — 94th
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The other 80 countries in the top 100 are from Europe, Asia, North America, South America and Oceania.

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Prominent Journalists Heading the African Jury

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France Football maintains data privacy for the complete individual roster until full voting charts are published post-ceremony. However, among the African journalists who have been publicly identified as Ballon d’Or voters are:

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• Nigeria: Samm Audu (Representing Nigeria via Score Nigeria).
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• Ghana: Michael Oti Adjei (Celebrated sports broadcaster and head of sports at Media General, executing Ghana’s ballot).
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• Egypt: Inas Mazhar (Veteran journalist, former CAF Media Officer, and longstanding vote holder for the Pharaohs).
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• South Africa: Mark Gleeson (Highly respected African football commentator, analyst, and statistician representing Bafana Bafana).
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• Morocco: Mustapha Badri (Renowned editor and director of the prominent Moroccan sports publication Al Mountakhab)
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The Ballon d’Or ceremony will take place in London on October 26, when the winner of the men’s award will be announced.

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The award covers performances during the 2025-26 season, including domestic and international competitions.

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France Football said the reference period ran from August 3, 2025, to July 19, 2026, including the 2026 World Cup and Africa Cup of Nations for the men’s award.

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