What it’s like choosing the top Ballon d’Or picks

Some weeks ago, I noticed an influx of followers to my Instagram account from all around the world. I didn’t know any of them.

Having worked 41 years for The Canadian Press prior to joining The Globe earlier this year, my social media presence has always been modest.

So the sudden interest in my social media was puzzling.

That was until I noticed a post on X, from an account written in Spanish, wondering who would get my 2026 Ballon d’Or vote.

I’ve served as Canada’s voter since 2018.

Administered annually by France Football magazine and dating back to 1956, the Ballon d’Or is the Academy Award of soccer. Lionel Messi has won the award eight times while Cristiano Ronaldo has been honoured five times and Johan Cruyff, Michel Platini and Marco van Basten have each been chosen three times.

What to know about the Ballon d’Or, soccer’s top individual award

While only 100 journalists worldwide vote on the men’s award, millions of fans have an opinion on who should get the coveted trophy. That means scrutiny – and sometimes derision – for those who decide the winner.

I came under the spotlight through that unexpected social media post, which included my X handle (and likely helped people find my Instagram), along with my top three votes from 2023 to 2025, complete with a review of my picks.

Suddenly people knew how to find me … and other journalists.

Over 10 days in September, more than 70 of the 100 voters for the 2026 award were showcased in a similar fashion in posts from the same account.

Suddenly my X account was attracting posts extolling FC Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal. But it was not to be.

England’s Harry Kane captured the award with 1,055 points, just 28 ahead of France’s Kylian Mbappe. Yamal was third at 881.

Interest in the Ballon d’Or runs deep.

The hype grows annually, with the awards expanded to also honour the top men and women’s coaches, teams, goalkeepers and under-21 players.

There are also trophies for men’s and women’s top scorer as well as the Sócrates Award, named after the former Brazilian known for his commitment to social causes off the field as well as his exploits on it.

My credentials as a voter? Longevity, if nothing else.

Growing up in London, there were Saturday trips to see Chelsea, Fulham and occasionally Queens Park Rangers. Chelsea was – and still is – my team, although I always stood with the away fans. The Shed end of Stamford Bridge, which housed the hard-nosed hometown supporters, terrified me in the early 70s.

Turned out the away end of the stadium wasn’t much safer. I vividly recall one game when Chelsea fans worked their way around the venue and started coming down to confront the away fans. The man standing next to me calmly reached into his jacket, pulled out a meat skewer and started climbing towards the Chelsea invaders.

Like many others, I made a beeline down the stand towards the pitch until order was restored.

Coming to Canada, I joined The Canadian Press in 1985. While I was the junior in the sports department, no one else seemed too keen on soccer so I was happy to put my hand up.

It has never wavered.

By my count, Jesse Marsch is the 14th Canadian men’s coach I have covered.

One of my favourites was Holger Osieck, a no-nonsense German who once memorably castigated me for the way I poured a bottle of beer.

I flew to Germany to cover his first training camp in charge and recall interviewing him one evening in the lobby of where the team was staying when a couple of veterans emerged and headed towards the exit. Osieck looked up, made eye contact and simply shook his head, sending the players back upstairs.

I was lucky enough to follow Osieck and the Canadian men to Japan in 2001 for the Confederations Cup, their reward for winning the CONCACAF Gold Cup.

Waking up at the crack of dawn (due to the time difference) in Niigata, I would drag myself to a nearby coffee shop where I would hear Canadian veteran players, equally starved of sleep, complain about their authoritarian coach. But Osieck took the team to new heights with the shock Gold Cup triumph.

I have been on hand to document the Canadian men’s World Cup qualification dreams die under the sun in Port of Spain, Trinidad (in 2000) and the humid, hostile ground of San Pedro Sula, Honduras (a visit to the then-murder capital of the world in 2012).

And I was fortunate enough to go to Qatar in 2022 to document the Canadian men’s return to the World Cup. And write about their World Cup debut on home soil this summer.

Does that make me an expert? More like, I know what I like when it comes to football. And that served as my compass in voting.

World Cup breakthrough prompts Canadian men to target new heights

France Football provided a list of 30 nominees with each voter choosing their top 10.

The time period for consideration ran from Aug. 3, 2025, to July 19, 2026, including the World Cup. The three criteria involved, in order of importance, are: individual performances, decisive and impressive character; collective performances and titles won; class and fair play.

So this year I had no doubts about voting for Kane, a goal machine for Germany’s Bayern Munich and class act as England captain. The rest of my top 10, in order, were Yamal, Mbappe, Rodri, Messi, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Erling Haaland, Ousmane Dembélé, Michael Olise and Fabian Ruiz.

(I was not one of the 50 journalists chosen to decide the women’s winner – Barcelona’s Alexia Putellas was honoured for the third time.)

Incredibly, it turns out my top 10 was one of just four that included all 10 in the final count, along with voters from France, Saudi Arabia and Wales. I had Mbappe and Yamal flipped and the same with Haaland and Dembele.

According to L’Equipe, mine was closest to the final tally.

Luck played its part, but it’s a nice way to bow out, considering it was my last year voting. Time for new blood.