Ballon d’Or: Zinédine Zidane gives his view

Zinédine Zidane knows better than most the significance of the Ballon d’Or and spoke about the ambitions of his nominated players.

The 1998 Ballon d’Or winner, Zinédine Zidane knows perfectly what football’s most prestigious individual award represents. Present at a press conference on Friday to announce his very first squad as head of the France team, the new head coach of Les Bleus was asked about the 2026 award race.

Three players from his squad feature among the 30 nominees for the men’s Ballon d’Or: Kylian Mbappé, defending champion Ousmane Dembélé, and Michael Olise. A trio that will inevitably fuel debate with just a few days to go before voting closes.

Zidane: “Every player wants to win it”

The former France No. 10 did not want to name a favourite and would rather let the discussions around the award continue.

“I don’t want to call time on the fun. The fun exists every day, it’s the debate, it’s part of the game. I know what it’s like to be the Ballon d’Or winner and every player wants to win it. There are discussions and that’s normal. I think it’s mainly on the outside, but internally there won’t be any problems. We’re going to focus on playing these four matches, especially Turkey to start with.”

Zidane therefore immediately shifted the focus back to the pitch. France must play four Nations League matches during this international window, beginning with the trip to Turkey.

30 players in contention, voting open until September 28

France Football has selected 30 players for the 70th edition of the men’s Ballon d’Or. The 100 journalists from the 100 highest-ranked nations in the FIFA rankings have until September 28, 2026 to submit their final vote.

Mbappé, Dembélé and Olise are therefore among the French candidates still in contention. Thierry Henry recently discussed the race between Mbappé and Olise, proof that the debate remains particularly open among the French contenders.

The winner will be announced on October 26 in London

The verdict will be announced on Monday, October 26, 2026, in London, during the official Ballon d’Or ceremony. This edition will mark the 70th anniversary of the award created by France Football in 1956.

Zidane is already familiar with this stage: he won the 1998 Ballon d’Or after a year marked in particular by France’s World Cup triumph and his performances with Juventus. Twenty-eight years later, he will follow the ceremony this time as the national team coach of several contenders.

Read also: Spain: Luis de la Fuente announces his first squad after World Cup triumph

Mahdi Zakaria LAZRI |

Editor

Football web writer creating digital sports content with a focus on news, analysis and stories that reflect passion, accuracy and objectivity.

Related teams and leagues

France