Bruno Fernandes was revealed as the player who finished 27th in the 2026 Ballon d'Or rankings. It was the second time he had been nominated for the award.
How the ranking was revealed
Before the Ballon d'Or ceremony at the London Palladium, the 20 players outside the top 10 were revealed in descending order. Fernandes finished above William Saliba and Sadio Mané, who were equal 29th, and Julián Quiñones, who was 28th. Declan Rice finished 13 places above Fernandes.
The season behind the nomination
Fernandes earned his 2026 Ballon d'Or nomination after a season in which he broke the 23-year-old record for assists in a Premier League season. He set up 21 goals over the 38-game Premier League season. Fernandes also won the FWA Footballer of the Year, PFA Players’ Player of the Year and Premier League Player of the Season awards, as well as a club-record fifth Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year.
Details attributed to SI
According to SI, Thierry Henry set the mark in 2002–03, and Kevin De Bruyne equaled the record in 2019–20. SI says Fernandes' 27th-place finish followed votes from a panel of 100 journalists, one from each of FIFA's top 100-ranked national teams.
Previous Ballon d'Or nomination
Fernandes was previously nominated in 2021 and finished equal 21st. He scored 28 goals across all competitions for Manchester United in 2020–21. Fernandes was an unused substitute in Manchester United's defeat to Bournemouth.