Twenty African countries have secured places among the 100 nations whose representatives will form the international jury for the 2026 Ballon d’Or.
The selection is based on the FIFA men’s world ranking in effect when the voting lists were published on September 8, according to the regulations governing the prestigious individual award.
France Football, the organiser of the Ballon d’Or, uses a jury made up of specialised journalists, with one representative appointed from each of the 100 highest-ranked countries.
Each voter will assess the 30 nominees and submit a list of 10 players in order of preference, with points awarded according to their positions.
The player placed first on a ballot will receive 15 points, while the remaining selections will earn 12, 10, eight, seven, five, four, three, two and one point respectively.
Morocco leads the African contingent after occupying sixth position in the FIFA ranking, followed by Senegal in 18th and Egypt in 24th.
Nigeria is ranked 26th globally and is the fourth-highest African nation in the ranking used for the Ballon d’Or jury.
Algeria, Côte d’Ivoire, DR Congo, Cameroon and Mali occupy 29th, 31st, 41st, 43rd and 53rd positions respectively.
South Africa is ranked 54th, while Tunisia, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde and Ghana occupy 57th, 62nd, 64th and 65th places.
Guinea, Gabon, Angola, Uganda, Zambia and Benin complete the African representation at 81st, 84th, 87th, 89th, 90th and 94th respectively.
The remaining 80 members of the 100-country jury are drawn from Europe, Asia, North America, South America and Oceania.
France Football does not publish the complete individual voting roster before the ceremony, citing its policy of keeping voters’ details private until the official voting charts are released.
Some African journalists, however, have previously been publicly identified as representatives of their respective countries in the Ballon d’Or voting process.
Nigeria’s ballot has been represented by Samm Audu of Score Nigeria, while Ghana’s voting representative is Michael Oti Adjei, a sports broadcaster and head of sports at Media General.
Egyptian journalist Inas Mazhar, a former CAF media officer, is also among the known African voters, alongside South African football commentator and statistician Mark Gleeson.
Morocco’s publicly identified representative is Mustapha Badri, editor and director of the Moroccan sports publication Al Mountakhab.
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 will recognise performances during the 2025/26 season across domestic and international competitions.
The assessment period runs from August 3, 2025, to July 19, 2026, with the 2026 World Cup and Africa Cup of Nations included in the evaluation period for the men’s award.
