Arsenal have received multiple nominations for the upcoming Ballon d’Or awards, including David Raya for Men’s Goalkeeper of the Year.
The Ballon d’Or’s official website has been confirming some of their nominees for the 2026 award ceremony throughout Tuesday, with Arsenal receiving nominations in a number of categories.
The first nomination was for Men’s Club of the Year, and Arsenal are up against Bayern Munich, Bodo/Glimt, Flamengo, and Paris Saint-Germain for the award. The Gunners’ Premier League trophy and two final appearances, including the Champions League final, are behind the nomination.
Next came the Men’s Coach of the Year nominations, with Mikel Arteta joining Spain’s Luis de la Fuente, Aston Villa’s Unai Emery, Bayern Munich’s Vincent Kompany, and Paris Saint-Germain’s Luis Enrique on the shortlist.
Arsenal’s successes are again the obvious motivating factor behind Arteta’s nomination.
After that, Arsenal received their first player nomination, with David Raya up for the Men’s Goalkeeper of the Year award.
On the shortlist, Raya joins Al-Hilal’s Yassine Bounou, Real Madrid’s Thibaut Courtois, FC Barcelona’s Joan Garcia, Borussia Dortmund’s Gregor Kobel, Aston Villa/Chelsea’s Emi Martinez, Al-Ahli’s Edouard Mendy, PSG’s Matvey Safonov, Athletic Club’s Unai Simon, and Cape Verde World Cup hero Vozinha.
As well as his work with Arsenal, Raya obviously has Spain’s World Cup success backing up his claim, though he didn’t feature on the pitch in the tournament. As mentioned, Spain number one Unai Simon has also been nominated.
But whilst Raya may have been second to Simon in Luis de la Fuente’s Spain selection process, he was fantastic for Arsenal, winning the Premier League Golden Glove, keeping the most clean sheets in the Champions League, and making countless vital saves and high claims along the way.
The Arsenal Women’s first nominations came via the Women’s Ballon d’Or, with Mariona Caldentey and Alessia Russo making the 30-player shortlist.
Caldentey won the Nations League and the Champions Cup, scoring seven goals and assisting 10 in her 49 appearances, whilst Russo also won the Champions Cup, scored 29 goals, and assisted a further nine.
Finally, Gabriel Magalhaes, Declan Rice, and William Saliba have all made the final 30 for the Men’s Ballon d’Or award, with all three impressing for club and country throughout 2026. The final ceremony will take place on October 26th, 2026.
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