Paris Saint-Germain captain Marquinhos says he hopes the 2026 Ballon d'Or will be won by one of his team-mates, after 10 PSG players were included on the 30-man shortlist.
“I hope the Ballon d'Or goes to a PSG player,” Marquinhos said as he gave his view on the forthcoming ceremony.
The number of nominees means PSG have set a unique record for the award. The Parisian club is represented by 10 players on the list, which was published ahead of the ceremony.
PSG will be hoping the recognition reflects their strength as a squad, with Marquinhos publicly backing one of the shortlisted players to claim the individual prize. The identity of the winner has not yet been stated in the source report.
Last year’s award went to PSG forward Ousmane Dembele. He is therefore the most recent winner of the Ballon d'Or and was honoured after his performances for the Paris club.
The 2026 ceremony will take place with PSG again heavily represented among the leading candidates. Their 10 nominations have been described as a unique record, underlining the club’s presence in this year’s voting.
PSG prepare for Champions League opener
Luis Enrique’s side are due to begin their Champions League campaign on 9 September, when they host Slovan in their opening match of the competition.
The game is scheduled to kick off at 22:00 Moscow time. It will be PSG’s first Champions League fixture of the campaign, with the match taking place as attention also turns to the Ballon d'Or shortlist.
Marquinhos, the PSG captain, will be involved as the club balances its European commitments with the individual recognition surrounding its players. The captain’s comments make clear his preference for a winner from within the PSG squad, following Dembele’s success last year.
The shortlist contains 30 players in total, including 10 from PSG. Those figures give the club the largest representation highlighted in the report and form the basis of the unique record attributed to PSG for the 2026 Ballon d'Or.
With Dembele having won the previous edition and PSG providing a substantial proportion of this year’s candidates, the club will be closely associated with the award before the winner is announced. For now, Marquinhos has expressed the hope that the prize remains with a PSG player.