London will host football’s annual Ballon d’Or ceremony on Monday 26 October, but another vote is already drawing attention beyond the gala: the newly created B.O.A.T., presented as a search for the greatest Ballon d’Or in the award’s history.
Key takeaways
- The B.O.A.T. public ballot remains open until midnight on 27 October.
- Each vote costs €1, and supporters may cast as many votes as they wish.
- Cristiano Ronaldo’s 2008 Ballon d’Or entry leads the poll with 62%.
- Messi’s 2012 award, earned after his 91-goal calendar year, is second on 13%.
- Ten former Ballon d’Or winners are represented in the contest.
A vote between football eras
The regular Ballon d’Or will be decided in London first, with Lamine Yamal, Kylian Mbappé and Harry Kane among the leading names in contention. Messi is also nominated for the conventional prize after his outstanding displays at the 2026 World Cup.
The B.O.A.T. vote closes the following day and takes a different route from the established individual award. Rather than being selected through the usual voting process, its outcome will be determined by a paid public ballot, with no cap on the number of entries a voter can submit.
The field spans several generations of European and world football: Alfredo Di Stéfano, Johan Cruyff, Franz Beckenbauer, Kevin Keegan, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Michel Platini, Marco van Basten, Ronaldo, Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi.
Why Messi’s record does not make him the automatic favourite
Messi has collected the Ballon d’Or more often than any other player, yet that record does not place all of his support behind a single B.O.A.T. candidate. Every individual Ballon d’Or triumph is treated as its own entry, meaning votes for his various winning years are divided across separate nominations.
That format has given Cristiano Ronaldo’s 2008 triumph a substantial early advantage. The Portuguese forward’s first Ballon d’Or currently accounts for 62% of the vote, while Messi’s 2012 prize holds 13% in second place. The latter honour followed a remarkable year in which the Argentine scored 91 goals across the calendar year.
With voting open until the end of 27 October, the contest offers supporters a paid, public referendum on the individual seasons and eras that have defined the Ballon d’Or’s history.
