Ballon d’Or 2026: Nigeria among 20 African countries to vote [Full list]

Nigeria is among 20 African countries eligible to vote for the 2026 Ballon d’Or after ranking among the top 100 nations in the FIFA men’s world ranking used to determine the award’s international jury.

The 20 African countries represented in the 100-member jury, alongside their FIFA rankings, are:

• Morocco — 6th
• Senegal — 18th
• Egypt — 24th
• Nigeria — 26th
• Algeria — 29th
• Côte d’Ivoire — 31st
• DR Congo — 41st
• Cameroon — 43rd
• Mali — 53rd
• South Africa — 54th
• Tunisia — 57th
• Burkina Faso — 62nd
• Cabo Verde — 64th
• Ghana — 65th
• Guinea — 81st
• Gabon — 84th
• Angola — 87th
• Uganda — 89th
• Zambia — 90th
• Benin — 94th

According to the Ballon d’Or regulations published by French sports newspaper L’Équipe, the award is decided by an international jury of specialist journalists, with one representative from each of the top 100 countries in the FIFA men’s world ranking.

The regulations state that the FIFA ranking used is the one in effect when the nominee lists are published on September 8, 2026.

Each juror will select 10 players in descending order of merit from the 30 nominees drawn up by the editorial staff of France Football, members of the L’Équipe editorial team, at least one juror from the previous edition and UEFA ambassadors.

Under the voting system, the player ranked first by each juror receives 15 points, followed by 12, 10, eight, seven, five, four, three, two and one point for the players ranked from second to 10th.

The player who accumulates the highest number of points will win the Ballon d’Or.

The regulations also provide a system for resolving a tie. If two or more players finish with the same number of points, they will first be separated by the number of first-place votes.

If the tie remains, the number of second-place votes will be considered, followed by third-place votes and so on.

Any dispute arising from the voting process will be settled by the editor-in-chief of France Football, as the organiser of the award.

The 2026 Ballon d’Or ceremony is scheduled to take place in London on October 26, when the winner of the men’s award will be announced.

The award covers performances during the 2025-26 season, with the assessment period running from August 3, 2025, to July 19, 2026.

Performances at the 2026 FIFA World Cup and Africa Cup of Nations are also included in the assessment period.

Vanguard News

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