Ballon d'Or 2026: Ranking the Favorites to Win Men's Club of the Year

Five teams are on the shortlist for the Ballon d'Or Men's Club of the Year 2026, with the soccer's equivalent of the Oscars set to take place in a grand ceremony in London on Oct. 26. Organized by France Football, the glitzy awards ceremony has focussed on naming the best player of the past year for most of its near-70 year lifespan, but in 2021 a whole new raft of gongs were added in to pad out the evening's entertainment. Chelsea were the first Men's Club of the Year winners, followed by back-to-back prizes for Manchester City. Real Madrid won in 2024, with Paris Saint-Germain the latest winners. You may have already noticed a theme, with four of the five previous winners being the club that lifted the Champions League. Will that continue this season? Here's Sports Illustrated's ranking of the five teams in the mix. Achievements: Norwegian Cup winners, Champions League Round of 16Let's be completely honest with ourselves: one of these teams is not like the others.However, while they have no real chance of winning Club of the Year, Bodø/Glimt's nomination is fair recognition of a club operating so far from Europe traditional center of power that that they are much closer to Santa's workshop than the Santiago Bernabéu.The Arctic Circle underdogs, led by Kjetil Knutsen, beat Manchester City at home and then Atlético Madrid away to ensure qualification for the Champions League knockout phase playoffs for the first time in their history. Most impressively, they then beat 2024–25 finalists Inter Milan home and away to reach the Last 16.As things stand, they appear set to win Norway's top flight for the fifth time in seven years-though the Ballon d'Or "reference period" only goes up until July 19. Achievements: Copa Libertadores, Serie A, Campeonato CariocaIt's been another great year for Flamengo, who have solidified their credentials as the best team playing soccer outside of UEFA.The Rio de Janeiro side saw off Palmeiras 1-0 in the 2025 Copa Libertadores final last November and have continued to go from strength to strength on all fronts since, despite Filipe Luís's departure as manager back in March.Though not fully covered in the Ballon d'Or's judging period, Flamengo are on course to defend their Serie A crown this season, while they have also made it into this season's Copa Libertadores quarterfinals with minimal fuss.They were defeated by Paris Saint-Germain on penalties in the Intercontinental Cup, however and a Club of the Year win may be a step too far. Achievements: Premier League, Champions League runners-up, Carabao Cup runners-upArsenal sauntered to the Premier League title in the end, losing just four games all season and maintaining a seven-point gap over Manchester City to end a wait of more than two decades for the right to call themselves England's best club.It has been an incredible effort from Mikel Arteta and the players to restore the Gunners as one of European soccer's best and most feared clubs. Depending on whether you're a glass half-full or half-empty kind of person, the rest of Arsenal's season can be viewed as either progress or disappointment, with the Gunners falling just short in both the Carabao Cup and Champions League finals. Achievements: Bundesliga, DFB-PokalBayern Munich went on a tear in 2025–26, topping the Bundesliga from Gameweek 1 all the way to the very end.It feels like it should've been very boring, and it might've been if Vincent Kompany's side weren't so damn good to watch.They lost just once on their way to the title, smashing the record for the most goals in a single season (122)-36 of which were scored by the irrepressible Harry Kane.Bayern also stormed their way to the domestic cup and came close in the Champions League, but fell to Paris Saint-Germain in a barnstorming semifinal for the ages. Achievements: Ligue 1, Champions League, UEFA Super Cup, Intercontinental CupIt will be a major shock if Paris Saint-Germain aren't awarded the prize in London this October. Luis Enrique's all-conquering men became the only team not called Real Madrid to win back-to-back European titles in the Champions League era and have ascended to the pantheon of all-time greats.They also strolled to Ligue 1 (again) and added Intercontinental Cups and UEFA Super Cups to their museum tour.They are quite simply the best club of the year. Copyright ABG-SI LLC. SPORTS ILLUSTRATED is a registered trademark of ABG-SI LLC. All Rights Reserved. This story was originally published September 8, 2026 at 9:40 AM.