London Palladium Hosts the 70th Ballon d’Or Ceremony
Lionel Messi and Lautaro Martínez lead the contingent of 30 nominees for the 70th Ballon d’Or, awarded at a ceremony shifting temporarily from its long-running Paris home to the London Palladium in England, Infobae reported. Moving the historic gala outside France honors Stanley Matthews, the English winger who collected the inaugural trophy in 1956. Argentina’s representation at the upper echelon of world football remains formidable as the sport’s governing bodies hand out the global honors.
Messi Pursues a Ninth Golden Ball in London
Messi enters the 30-player shortlist with eight Ballon d’Or trophies already collected between 2009 and 2023, maintaining the record for most wins in the history of the award ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo’s five. The Inter Miami forward contends for a ninth statuette against a field featuring the reigning holder Ousmane Dembélé, the 2024 winner Rodri, Kylian Mbappé, Harry Kane, Lamine Yamal, and Erling Haaland. Infobae reported that the ceremony also features Inter Milan forward Lautaro Martínez among the nominees following his performances across the 2025-2026 season, alongside goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez from Chelsea competing for the Yashin Trophy.
How the Historic Argentine Voting Standings Shape Up
The updated all-time voting hierarchy for Argentine players reflects decades of global recognition, capturing every position earned since 1995 by athletes who secured at least one ballot point. The historical standings place Messi across the top three positions for his various award-winning and podium years with Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain, followed closely by Gabriel Batistuta’s standout voting tallies with Fiorentina and Roma at the turn of the century.
Infobae outlined the complete historical ranking of Argentine players who received votes:
- 1st to 3rd: Lionel Messi (multiple years, Barcelona, PSG, and Inter Miami)
- 4th and 6th: Gabriel Batistuta (Fiorentina, 1998 and 1999)
- 7th: Gabriel Batistuta (Fiorentina/Roma 2000), Julián Álvarez (Manchester City 2023), and Lautaro Martínez (Inter Milan 2024)
- 8th: Juan Sebastián Verón (Parma/Lazio 1999)
- 10th: Ángel Di María (Real Madrid 2014)
- 13th: Gabriel Batistuta (Fiorentina 1996) and Sergio Agüero (Manchester City 2015)
- 14th: Juan Román Riquelme (Villarreal 2005, Villarreal/Boca Juniors 2007), Sergio Agüero (Atlético Madrid 2008), and Javier Mascherano (Barcelona 2015)
- 15th: Paulo Dybala (Juventus 2017) and Emiliano Dibu Martínez (Aston Villa 2023)
- 16th to 30th: Hernán Crespo, Juan Sebastián Verón, Sergio Agüero, Fernando Redondo, Javier Mascherano, Alexis Mac Allister, Claudio López, Juan Esnaider, and Carlos Tevez.
The ranking excludes initial nominees who did not collect votes in their respective years, including Abel Balbo in 1995, Diego Simeone and Javier Zanetti in 1996, Ariel Ortega in 1998, Pablo Aimar and Javier Saviola in 2002, Roberto Ayala in 2004, and Gonzalo Higuaín in 2016.
The 2025 Precedents at the Théâtre du Châtelet
The anticipation surrounding the London gathering follows the 69th edition held at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, where Ousmane Dembélé captured the 2025 award ahead of Lamine Yamal in second and Vitinha in third. Infobae noted that during that same Parisian gala, Lautaro Martínez finished 20th in the voting and Alexis Mac Allister placed 22nd, while Emiliano Martínez missed out on the Yashin Trophy for best goalkeeper.
