Salah was absent from the Ballon d’Or list for the second time, after staying away from the list of nominees in 2024, which is the version in which Spaniard Rodri was crowned, while he was on last year’s list, which witnessed the coronation of Frenchman Ousmane Dembélé, and the Egyptian ranked fourth in the final standings.
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Salah had led the Egyptian national team to qualify for the round of 16 of the 2026 World Cup for the first time in the history of the Pharaohs, before being eliminated from the tournament by Argentina. He scored one goal and made two assists during the 5 matches he played with the national team in the World Cup.
Bad season with Liverpool
At the club level, the Egyptian star went through a difficult season with his former team, Liverpool, which ended the season without winning any title, under the leadership of its former coach, Arne Sloat, who was later dismissed, before Andoni Iraola took over as his successor.
Last season, Salah played 41 matches with Liverpool in all competitions, during which he scored only 12 goals, including 7 goals in the English Premier League, which is a rate much lower than his usual numbers during previous seasons.
Salah previously scored 34 goals in 52 matches in various competitions during the 2024-2025 season, in which Liverpool won the English Premier League title.
A season without titles
The reasons for Salah’s absence from the Ballon d’Or list are not only related to his individual numbers, as he finished last season without winning any local or international title, whether with Liverpool or the Egyptian national team.
Despite Egypt’s historic qualification to the round of 16 in the World Cup, the Pharaohs’ journey ended at this stage with their exit against Argentina, while Salah did not succeed with Liverpool in adding a new championship to his record during the season.
The absence of group titles, in addition to the decline in his numbers compared to the previous season, constitutes one of the factors that explain the exclusion of Salah’s name from the list of candidates for the 2026 Ballon d’Or.
Salah’s career in the Ballon d’Or
Salah was nominated for the Ballon d’Or for the first time in 2018, and ranked sixth in the final standings after his first season with Liverpool.
In 2019, after winning the Champions League with the English team, Salah was nominated for the award again and ranked fifth in the standings.
In 2020, the award was canceled due to the Corona pandemic, and that year Salah led Liverpool to win the English Premier League title.
Salah was also nominated for the award in 2021, and ranked seventh, then came fifth in 2022, before falling to 11th place in 2023.
Salah was not on the list of candidates in 2024, while he ranked fourth last year, 2025.
