The 2026 Ballon d’Or nominations were announced today, and among the 30 names for the Men’s award was one who had been wearing Chelsea Blue not that long ago.
Of course, Marc Cucurella now wears Real Madrid’s white, and that certainly played a part in him earning the nomination for football’s biggest individual prize. It’s a lot easier to get nominated when you’re a Galactico than when you’re just at Chelsea (just like when Antonio Rüdiger got nominated in 2022)! In fairness, Cucu did play an important
part in Spain’s World Cup triumph as well as our Club World Cup triumph last summer, but he wouldn’t be on this list if he were still at the Bridge.
Conversely, Emiliano Martínez has been nominated for the best goalkeeper award (i.e. Yashin Trophy) for his exploits prior to joining the Blues. Despite a losing effort by Argentina, he set a new World Cup record with 11 saves in the final and also led the Premier League in save percentage last season for Aston Villa. He’s not off to a great start in that regard for us, but ideally he also won’t be facing nearly nine shots on target per game going forward either.
Ex-Chelsea players Édouard Mendy and Thibaut Courtois also earned nominations for the Yashin Award, while former Chelsea prospects Declan Rice and Michael Olise are among the 30 nominees for the Ballon d’Or (Olise might have a chance to win it, too).
Chelsea nominees on the women’s side include Hannah Hampton (goalkeeper award) and Veerle Burman (young player award), as well as summer signings Melvine Malard (from Manchester United) and Manaka Matsukubo (from North Carolina Courage) for the main award. Former Blue Pernille Harder got nominated for the fifth time.
Congrats, all. (Winners will be announced during next month’s ceremony.)
