New Champions League season begins with a tribute to Nepal and Ballon d'Or intrigue

New season and a moment of respect for Nepal

The league phase of the UEFA Champions League 2026/27 season begins on Tuesday with six matches, including Real Madrid's clash with Inter Milan at the Santiago Bernabeu, where the Spanish club starts its pursuit of a 16th title. Wednesday and Thursday will each bring six further fixtures.

Before all of this week's matches, UEFA will hold a moment of silence and display a banner reading "You are not alone, Nepal," expressing solidarity with victims of the country's floods, as reported by Al Sharq Sports. UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin said the entire European football family would stand together on Tuesday to offer condolences to the people of Nepal and wish them strength in recovering from the tragedy. UEFA has previously offered similar support following the 2023 Morocco earthquake and Libya floods.

The 2026 Ballon d'Or nominees

On the same Tuesday, September 8, France Football, together with L'Equipe, will unveil the 30-man and 30-woman shortlists for the 70th Ballon d'Or; the ceremony will take place on October 26 in London. Other shortlists to be announced include Men's and Women's Young Talent of the Year, Goalkeeper of the Year, Coach of the Year and Club of the Year, plus the Striker of the Year and Socrates awards.

According to GiveMeSport, as cited by DaveOCKOP, Sadio Mane and Julian Quiñones are expected to be among the nominees.

Since 2022 the award has no longer been judged on the calendar year but on a full season, from August to July. That means the 2026 award will assess the 2025/26 campaign, which also includes the 2026 World Cup, since the tournament concluded in July.

Spain beat Argentina in the World Cup final at MetLife Stadium on July 19; 39-year-old Lionel Messi, despite an otherwise strong tournament, failed to make a decisive impact in the final and subsequently announced his retirement from international football. Rodri was named the tournament's best player, having featured in all eight of Spain's matches and completing 101 of 105 passes in the final. Substitute Ferran Torres scored the winning goal in the 106th minute, becoming only the second substitute in history to decide a World Cup final, after Mario Götze in 2014.

Kylian Mbappe won neither the World Cup nor the Champions League with his team, but finished as top scorer in both tournaments — 10 goals in eight World Cup matches and 15 in 11 Champions League appearances. Last season's Champions League was won by Paris Saint-Germain, who beat Arsenal in the final; Arsenal went on to become English champions for the first time since 2004. UEFA named Khvicha Kvaratskhelia the tournament's best player (10 goals, 6 assists in 16 matches), while Vitinha was named best player of the final. Ousmane Dembele also scored in the final and added 6 goals for France at the World Cup. Barcelona's Lamine Yamal, named La Liga's best player with 16 goals and 12 assists, will also have his full season assessed.

How the voting works

According to TNT Sports, the winner is decided by a jury of journalists — one representative from each of the top 100 FIFA-ranked nations for the men's award, and from the top 50 for the women's. Each journalist selects their top 10 from the 30 nominees, awarding points from 15 (1st place) down to 1 (10th place); the player with the highest total wins.

As Goal.com reports, citing the newspaper "Sport," the organisers reaffirmed on August 9 that individual performance and a decisive character in big moments matter more than collective titles. This means winning trophies does not automatically guarantee the award for stars of PSG or Real Madrid — what will matter most is who was the best and most decisive player across the season.