Football Italia Show: Italy’s Ballon d’Or – Who was the best in 2026?
With no Italian players featuring among the leading contenders on Ballon d’Or night, the Football Italia Show is taking matters into its own hands.
Lorenzo Bettoni and Giancarlo Rinaldi return with a new episode to debate the best Italian performers of the 2025-26 season and rank the country’s top five players.
Who was Italy’s best player in 2025-26?
Who deserves to be crowned Italy’s standout footballer? From Gianluigi Donnarumma to Riccardo Calafiori and Federico Dimarco, plenty of candidates deserve consideration, with club-level performances providing plenty of talking points.
Donnarumma’s displays between the posts, Calafiori’s contribution in defence and Dimarco’s influence from the flank are among the performances that make this an intriguing debate. But who has done enough to claim a place in the top five, and who should be considered the leading Italian player right now?
Lorenzo and Giancarlo assess the candidates, weigh up the performances that have stood out throughout the 2025-26 campaign, and reveal their personal rankings.
Do you agree with their choices, or have they overlooked another Italian player? Watch the full episode of the Football Italia Show to hear the debate and discover who makes the final five.
Who would be your Ballon d’Or winner among Italian players? Watch the full show below:
