A decade since the last Portuguese champion

On Monday 26 October, the Ballon d'Or ceremony took place in London.

The men’s award went to Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane, the first English player to win the trophy in 25 years. The last time was in 2001, when Michael Owen won the award.

For Portugal, however, recent history has been marked by a wait that is about to reach a decade. Next year, it will be ten years since a Portuguese player last won the Ballon d'Or.

Years in which a Portuguese player won the Ballon d'Or:

  • 1965 – Eusébio (Benfica)

  • 2000 – Luís Figo (Barcelona / Real Madrid)

  • 2008 – Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)

  • 2013 – Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)

  • 2014 – Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)

  • 2016 – Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)

  • 2017 – Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)

No Portuguese player made it into the top ten this year. Nevertheless, four of the country’s top players were among the 30 nominees for the award.

Portuguese nominees for the 2026 Ballon d'Or:

  • Vitinha (Paris Saint-Germain) – 14th place (59 points)

  • João Neves (Paris Saint-Germain) – 19th place (15 points)

  • Nuno Mendes (Paris Saint-Germain) – 23rd place (8 points)

  • Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United) – 27th place (5 points)

How does the voting work?

The Men’s Ballon d'Or is decided by an international jury comprising football journalists, with one representative from each of the 100 countries highest in the FIFA rankings at the time the nominees are announced.

Each jury member selects ten players, in descending order of preference. They are awarded 15, 12, 10, 8, 7, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 point respectively. In the end, the award is presented to the player with the highest total score.

But how were the four Portuguese players rated by these representatives?

Vitinha: the highest-ranked Portuguese player

The 26-year-old Paris Saint-Germain midfielder, Vitinha, finished the 2026 Ballon d'Or in 14th place – the highest position amongst the Portuguese nominees – with 59 points.

It was yet another top-class season for Luis Enrique’s side, crowned by their second consecutive Champions League title. This was his third consecutive nomination for the award, having finished third in 2025.

This year, 21 national representatives placed Vitinha in the top ten. His highest rankings came from Simão Rodrigues of Cape Verde and Amr Nageeb Fahmy of Egypt, who both placed him in 5th position.

Jury members who included Vitinha in their top ten:

  • Argentina (Ezequiel Fernández Moores – La Nación) – 9th place

  • Austria (Martin Konrad – Sky Sport Austria) – 10th place

  • Belgium (Frédéric Larsimont – Le Soir) – 10th place

  • Bulgaria (Rumen Paytachev – blitz.bg) – 9th place

  • Cape Verde (Simão Rodrigues – Inforpress) – 5th place

  • Qatar (Majed Alkhelaifi – Stad Doha) – 10th place

  • Chile (Danilo Díaz – Radio ADN) – 9th place

  • Croatia (Zdravko Reić – Jutarnji List) – 8th place

  • Curaçao (Carl Ruiter – Extra Curaçao / Radio Hoyer) – 7th place

  • Denmark (Troels Bager Thøgersen – Campo) – 8th place

  • Egypt (Amr Nageeb Fahmy – beIN SPORTS) – 5th place

  • Slovenia (Aleš Potočnik – RTV Slovenija) – 10th place

  • Ireland (Paul Kelly – Freelance) – 9th place

  • Finland (Ari Virtanen – Helsingin Sanomat / Ilta-Sanomat) – 7th place

  • Guinea (Ibrahima Diallo – Afrinkinfomedia) – 9th place

  • Oman (Saleh al-Barhi – Al Watan) – 8th place

  • Panama (Humberto Cornejo – La Prensa) – 8th place

  • Romania (Emanuel Roșu – Fanatik România) – 7th place

  • Russia (Constantin Klechtchev – Match TV) – 9th place

  • Tunisia (Abdessalem Dhifallah – Radio Orient) – 9th place

  • Turkey (Fatih Doğan – Sabah Newspaper / TRT Spor) – 8th place

João Neves: second nomination

The 22-year-old midfielder, João Neves, received his second Ballon d'Or nomination this year.

Four national representatives placed him in the top ten, and the Portuguese player finished in 19th place with 15 points. His best result came from Manos Staramopoulous of Greece, who ranked him 5th.

Jury members who included João Neves in their top ten:

  • Ghana (Michael Oti Adjei – TV3 Network) – 8th place

  • Greece (Manos Staramopoulous – Dimokratia) – 5th place

  • Kosovo (Bajram Shala – Freelance) – 9th place

  • Romania (Emanuel Roșu – Fanatik România) – 8th place

Nuno Mendes: also a second nomination

The 24-year-old left-back, Nuno Mendes, also received his second Ballon d'Or nomination this year. He finished in 23rd place, with 8 points, after being included in the top ten by four national representatives.

Among the jury members who placed him in the top ten was the Portuguese António Tadeia himself, who ranked him 8th.

Jury members who included Nuno Mendes in their top ten:

  • Angola (Mateus Gonçalves – Rádio Lac) – 10th place

  • Ivory Coast (Adam Khalil – sport-ivoire.ci) – 10th place

  • Curaçao (Carl Ruiter – Extra Curaçao / Radio Hoyer) – 8th place

  • Portugal (António Tadeia – RTP / Substack) – 8th place

Bruno Fernandes: first nomination in five years

Finally, Bruno Fernandes, 32, received his second nomination for the award this year, his first since 2021. The Manchester United midfielder made the list after recording the highest number of assists in a single Premier League season.

He finished in 27th place, with 5 points, after being included in the top ten by three national representatives.

Jury members who included Bruno Fernandes in their top ten:

  • Ghana (Michael Oti Adjei – TV3 Network) – 9th place

  • Nigeria (Samm Audu – scorenigeria) – 10th place

  • Norway (Lars Tjærnås – Aftenposten) – 9th place

Four names, a new generation

No Portuguese player made it into the top ten in 2026, but Vitinha, João Neves, Nuno Mendes and Bruno Fernandes ensured Portugal remained among the frontrunners for football’s most prestigious individual award.

And whilst the wait for the next Portuguese winner is approaching a decade, a new generation continues to write its own story – vote by vote, season by season – in the quest to put Portugal back at the top of the Ballon d'Or.