The nominations for the 2026 Ballon d'Or paint a grim picture: Italian football has been pushed to the margins of the global elite. With the ceremony set for October 26 in London, the 30-man shortlist for the game’s most coveted individual award underscores a deep crisis, one compounded by missing two consecutive World Cups.
In the race to succeed Dembélé, not a single Italian player is listed. Serie A’s sole representative is Lautaro Martínez, isolated among international heavyweights like Rodri, Haaland, Mbappé, Bellingham, Kane, and Lionel Messi, who is competing for a ninth crown. The situation is equally telling among goalkeepers: Gigio Donnarumma missed out entirely, while peers such as Courtois, Emiliano Martínez, and Unai Simón contend for top honors. Even in the Under-21 award, Serie A's only footprint is Juventus’s Bosnian talent, Alajbegovic. With no Italian managers nominated and local clubs excluded even from the top-five shortlist for Club of the Year - which includes Norway's Bodø/Glimt - the verdict is stark: Italian football now makes headlines primarily for its absence.