‎Who will win the 2026 Ballon D'or?

[laspol65]

my vote goes to harry kane, too. even though lamine yamal has been performing very well over the last 2–3 seasons, i don’t think he’s ahead of harry kane this season. just like with benzema, i think harry kane will gradually fade away after winning a ballon d’or in the final years of his career. yamal is only 19 years old; i think he’ll win at least five ballon d’ors. he has a very long career ahead of him, but i don’t think he was quite complete enough to win the ballon d’or this season.

Harry Kane has performed very well this year not only this year but also in the past years he has been the best player. And in my opinion Lamine Yamal he has only played a few matches well (I am not saying he has performed badly) but considering all the aspects Harry Kane is the only one who deserves to win the Ballon d'Or.
So if it is given then of course it should be given comprehensive consideration and in every aspect

[Agbe]

Harry Kane has performed very well this year not only this year but also in the past years he has been the best player. And in my opinion Lamine Yamal he has only played a few matches well (I am not saying he has performed badly) but considering all the aspects Harry Kane is the only one who deserves to win the Ballon d'Or.
So if it is given then of course it should be given comprehensive consideration and in every aspect

I was also thinking of Lamine Yamal because of his incredible performance in the recent football history but he is still young in the game therefore it is good the award shall be given to a legend footballer. And Harry Kane is also good to have it. In the pool here I see that Harry Kane has the highest vote and Lamine Yamal has the second position in the voting.

[NewRevelation]

my vote goes to harry kane, too. even though lamine yamal has been performing very well over the last 2–3 seasons, i don’t think he’s ahead of harry kane this season. just like with benzema, i think harry kane will gradually fade away after winning a ballon d’or in the final years of his career. yamal is only 19 years old; i think he’ll win at least five ballon d’ors. he has a very long career ahead of him, but i don’t think he was quite complete enough to win the ballon d’or this season.

Yea, for this season, since Dembele and Mbappe are out of the talk, then it's Harry Kane. Lamine Yamal, despite winning the world cup is no where near Harry Kane. Harry Kane has been on it for long. His performance has been steady, both for club and country. He has individual awards too, winning almost all trophies he contested for last season. He is outstanding, and should be awarded. One of the things that makes me also choose Harry is his importance in his team, England. I don't think for now he has a perfect replacement. A player with such versatile qualities. Always ready and always deliveries. Yamal has a lot of future ahead, but this one, I think he should win it.

[danadc]

I was also thinking of Lamine Yamal because of his incredible performance in the recent football history but he is still young in the game therefore it is good the award shall be given to a legend footballer. And Harry Kane is also good to have it. In the pool here I see that Harry Kane has the highest vote and Lamine Yamal has the second position in the voting.

The criteria used by journalists to choose the Ballon d'Or winner are now quite unpredictable. We've seen some Ballon d'Or winners who didn't deserve it, yet they were chosen against the general opinion of the world.

Lamine isn't out of the running; he has impressive credentials that make him a strong candidate to win. Right now, I don't think age will be the deciding factor in whether he wins the award. There are many debates about the age of players, both young and mature, who are still making history.

[Brizi5000]

my vote goes to harry kane, too. even though lamine yamal has been performing very well over the last 2–3 seasons, i don’t think he’s ahead of harry kane this season. just like with benzema, i think harry kane will gradually fade away after winning a ballon d’or in the final years of his career. yamal is only 19 years old; i think he’ll win at least five ballon d’ors. he has a very long career ahead of him, but i don’t think he was quite complete enough to win the ballon d’or this season.

Harry Kane has performed very well this year not only this year but also in the past years he has been the best player. And in my opinion Lamine Yamal he has only played a few matches well (I am not saying he has performed badly) but considering all the aspects Harry Kane is the only one who deserves to win the Ballon d'Or.
So if it is given then of course it should be given comprehensive consideration and in every aspect

Harry Kane deserved to win the Balon Dior no doubt, but saying he’s the only player who deserves to win the Balon Dior is what I don’t seem to agree with you because even the Lamine yamal  deserves to win the award as a result of his outstanding performances for both his club and country. Harry Kane won the Bundesliga last season but Lamine yamal won both the Spanish la liga and World Cup trophy, after previously helping his country win the Euros. Balon Dior isn’t just determined by who have scored the highest goals because that’s the only thing I know Harry Kane does more than Lamine yamal, but in terms of trophies Lamine yamal deserves to win the award as he won more important trophies than Harry Kane for both his clubs and country. If it’s by goals alone, then a player like kylian Mbappe who won the highest goal scorer in laliga, champions league and World Cup even deserved to win the award more than Harry Kane.

[Pandu Geddon]

If it’s by goals alone, then a player like kylian Mbappe who won the highest goal scorer in laliga, champions league and World Cup even deserved to win the award more than Harry Kane.

The number of goals actually falls into the category of individual performance. I'm sure that's also what will be taken into account when calculating points. But of course, there are other aspects that will also be considered for each player who is a candidate. 
Kane is indeed a player I think deserves it. Yamal is also a talented young player, but maybe his chance will come in the next period.

[puloweh555]

If it’s by goals alone, then a player like kylian Mbappe who won the highest goal scorer in laliga, champions league and World Cup even deserved to win the award more than Harry Kane.

The number of goals actually falls into the category of individual performance. I'm sure that's also what will be taken into account when calculating points. But of course, there are other aspects that will also be considered for each player who is a candidate. 
Kane is indeed a player I think deserves it. Yamal is also a talented young player, but maybe his chance will come in the next period.

In my opinion, Mbappe is more deserving of winning this award because the Ballon d'Or is an individual award. What Mbappe has achieved so far is very impressive, and it might even be difficult for any player to match his records at the moment, becoming the top scorer in La Liga, the UCL, and the World Cup in the same year. But again, like you said there are many aspects to consider in winning the Ballon d'Or, especially the overall impact including trophies.

Apart from Mbappe, I think Kane also deserves to be a strong candidate if you look at it from various angles because his performance has been very solid and consistent this season. Kane managed to win three domestic trophies this season with Munich, and he also led England to a third place finish in the World Cup. Moreover, when it comes to scoring goals, he’s phenomenal he scored 73 goals in one season at that age which is definitely world class.

[Freeveto]

Harry Kane has performed very well this year not only this year but also in the past years he has been the best player. And in my opinion Lamine Yamal he has only played a few matches well (I am not saying he has performed badly) but considering all the aspects Harry Kane is the only one who deserves to win the Ballon d'Or.
So if it is given then of course it should be given comprehensive consideration and in every aspect

While I consider other players like Lamine Yamal, Dembele, and Rodri; I haven’t thought of Harry Kane in the list, maybe because England didn’t win the World Cup and Bayern Munich didn’t win the Champions league either, but generally, he has been good throughout last two seasons.

Harry Kane has scored 61 goals, and 7 assists last season for Bayern Munich in all competitions.
Lamine Yamal has scored 22 goals, and 15 assists  for Barcelona last season across all competitions.
Demebele scored 18 goals, and 9 assists for PSG across all competitions.
Rodri scored just two goals with zero assist.

I don’t know the criteria FIFA will use to give the award; if World Cup performance will be involved, Rodri did well in the World Cup, apart from that he should not come close to the debate of winning the award ahead of any of these players.

[ruykeri]

Harry Kane deserved to win the Balon Dior no doubt, but saying he’s the only player who deserves to win the Balon Dior is what I don’t seem to agree with you because even the Lamine yamal  deserves to win the award as a result of his outstanding performances for both his club and country. Harry Kane won the Bundesliga last season but Lamine yamal won both the Spanish la liga and World Cup trophy, after previously helping his country win the Euros. Balon Dior isn’t just determined by who have scored the highest goals because that’s the only thing I know Harry Kane does more than Lamine yamal, but in terms of trophies Lamine yamal deserves to win the award as he won more important trophies than Harry Kane for both his clubs and country. If it’s by goals alone, then a player like kylian Mbappe who won the highest goal scorer in laliga, champions league and World Cup even deserved to win the award more than Harry Kane.

I know that winning the World Cup is a big factor in winning the Ballon d'Or. Yamal played well in the World Cup but didn't score as many goals as expected. It's a big disappointment. If the two draw and he didn't score but won the World Cup, then his competition with the rest will increase. Especially with Mbappe and Kane. In that case, Mbappe is quite ahead. He has many goals. Overall, his position as the impactful player of the match is quite good. In that case, I will put Yamal and Mbappe ahead of Kane. But only time will tell who will actually win. But I don't think Yamal will win this year's Ballon d'Or.

[PhilosopherKing]

In my opinion, Mbappe is more deserving of winning this award because the Ballon d'Or is an individual award. What Mbappe has achieved so far is very impressive, and it might even be difficult for any player to match his records at the moment, becoming the top scorer in La Liga, the UCL, and the World Cup in the same year. But again, like you said there are many aspects to consider in winning the Ballon d'Or, especially the overall impact including trophies.

Apart from Mbappe, I think Kane also deserves to be a strong candidate if you look at it from various angles because his performance has been very solid and consistent this season. Kane managed to win three domestic trophies this season with Munich, and he also led England to a third place finish in the World Cup. Moreover, when it comes to scoring goals, he’s phenomenal he scored 73 goals in one season at that age which is definitely world class.

There is individual performances, team performance and fair play, this is how the journalist decides person that will win.

Mbappe only passes in the individual performance, because he has a very good individual record that many players dont. But he is not a team player. That dude is as selfish as fuck. That is why he can't win the Ballon d'Or. Ronaldo who has more goals than Messi, but Messi has more Ballon d'Or pass him, because Messi is a team player. Mbappe knows this that is why he was trying very hard to make France win the world cup , but his effort did not bring result. France didn't even win third place, so how can they give him Ballon d'Or huh?

Yes Mbappe is so good, but Ballon d'Or is not man of the match award, it is a very competitive award and for you to win tournament have to be deserving. All those general Mbappe goals are in his pocket because that cannot win him Ballon d'Or. He should try helping his team more often.

[ArabBTC]

I will still tip Harry Kane to win this particular Ballon D’or he is a fantastic player, he is also a team player with good character and maturity, most of the crosses that Bellingham and other players were receiving during this just concluded World Cup were coming from him, Harry Kane is one player i admire so much because of his game play, i just don’t want him to end up like Robert Lewandoski who came so close to winning the ballon d’Or back then during the Covid period but didn’t win it at the end because of the interference, if this ballon d’Or isn’t giving to Harry Kane then they should give it to Messi, Mbappe and Yamine still has some things to build more, ballon d’Or is not all about skill alone, one’s team spirit and maturity too should come into consideration.

[GbitG]

my vote goes to harry kane, too. even though lamine yamal has been performing very well over the last 2–3 seasons, i don’t think he’s ahead of harry kane this season. just like with benzema, i think harry kane will gradually fade away after winning a ballon d’or in the final years of his career. yamal is only 19 years old; i think he’ll win at least five ballon d’ors. he has a very long career ahead of him, but i don’t think he was quite complete enough to win the ballon d’or this season.

Harry Kane has performed very well this year not only this year but also in the past years he has been the best player. And in my opinion Lamine Yamal he has only played a few matches well (I am not saying he has performed badly) but considering all the aspects Harry Kane is the only one who deserves to win the Ballon d'Or.
So if it is given then of course it should be given comprehensive consideration and in every aspect

Beyond any doubt Harry Kane has an extraordinary season and he really deserve to be the winner like without World Cup tournament he also had an fantastic season with a lot of goal and even in World Cup he also has a great performance. But this is the one side of aspects like we should also need to look on another side. In entire Balloon d'Or history they only give a Balloon d'Or to those who won major trophy and in this aspect others players also deserve more.....

For Lamine Jamal is the one who have a higher probabilities of wining like if we look at the criteria of France football then probably Lamine Jamal is fully fit in the criteria like he won a World Cup as well as he won La Liga, Super Cup etc and even he was the 3rd top goal scorers of the his club.

[letteredhub]

Snip

In the history of football, the world best player or Ballon d'Or award is always decided by the performance of a player in the world cup, if it's a world cup year. So the uefa champions league is not as significant as it is when it's a world cup year.

 Dembele was the favourite for the award before now, but after the world cup tournament, Lionel Messi and Kylian mbappé came into the equation and are even in a better position to win it that dembele, so I wouldn't be surprised if Lionel Messi wins it this year again because his overall performance in this world cup tournament was purely top class.

Perhaps I didn't consider this at first but then coinciding with a World Cup year and if performance analysis has to be focused on the World Cup alone since it's the biggest football event in the world then I think the most favourites to win the ballon dior should be the players with the most contributions in the national team that won the cup. Because it's obvious that many players carried their team with top performance.

The Messi you mentioned, what did he won or came out best  in this 2026 World Cup? Didn't even came out for highest goal scorer like Mbappe who I could consider for the race for his golden boot. Bad enough, you couldn't even mention any Spain players, Rodri or Lamine yamal for whose performance helped their team won the World Cup if the World Cup is the major criteria for this year. .

[Rengga Jati]

Harry Kane has performed very well this year not only this year but also in the past years he has been the best player. And in my opinion Lamine Yamal he has only played a few matches well (I am not saying he has performed badly) but considering all the aspects Harry Kane is the only one who deserves to win the Ballon d'Or.
So if it is given then of course it should be given comprehensive consideration and in every aspect

I was also thinking of Lamine Yamal because of his incredible performance in the recent football history but he is still young in the game therefore it is good the award shall be given to a legend footballer. And Harry Kane is also good to have it. In the pool here I see that Harry Kane has the highest vote and Lamine Yamal has the second position in the voting.

Yamal certainly has a strong chance of winning, standing out as a highly competitive nominee. Several factors bolster:
- His tally of goals, assists, and chances for Barcelona and the Spanish national team
- Won La Liga with Barcelona
- Won the 2026 FIFA World Cup with Spain
- And, of course, other attributes he brings to the table.

But, we will simply have to wait and see. It is a fascinating situation. given the fierce competition and the high standards required for a player to be recognized as deserving of the Ballon d'Or.

[Felicity_Tide]

‎-Harry kane (Bayern Munich/England) FW
‎

The Ballon D'or award is somehow complicated especially during seasons where we also have the FIFA world cup tournament. This season's Ballon D'or is going to be a bit difficult because it has never been about individual performance for some time now. Trophies have become a massive criteria, but if we're to look at all the candidates here, none of them fully meet it.

But imo, Harry is actually the player that comes close. His Individual performances both in the WC and league made him stand out. He won a few trophies, but not the biggest trophies for this season. Rodri on the other hand won the WC as a major trophy. Dembele won the UCL and the French league, but no WC... So, I think the voters might actually consider individual performance as the major criteria for this season's award.

[Crypto_Timothy]

]
Why would you list Lionel Messi here, I think his era has come to pass after the world cup likewise Cristiano Ronaldo but he may still want to force himself because of how he is so obsessed with the world cup but that is not possible for him I mean he could not do it when he was still strong then he can not do it now. Though Messi has good statistics in the world cup but I don't think it is enough to win the award but we can not deceive this yet. The favorite here is Harry Kane and Lamine Yamal.

Messi had a pretty good year and also a very good performance at the world cup, if he had won he world cup, I bet you would you understand my reason for listing Messi. But if Messi isn't here I'm very much behind Yamal to take the win this year.
I can't deny Kane's effort this year but my money is Yamal for sure.

[Berry2d]

]
Why would you list Lionel Messi here, I think his era has come to pass after the world cup likewise Cristiano Ronaldo but he may still want to force himself because of how he is so obsessed with the world cup but that is not possible for him I mean he could not do it when he was still strong then he can not do it now. Though Messi has good statistics in the world cup but I don't think it is enough to win the award but we can not deceive this yet. The favorite here is Harry Kane and Lamine Yamal.

Messi had a pretty good year and also a very good performance at the world cup, if he had won he world cup, I bet you would you understand my reason for listing Messi. But if Messi isn't here I'm very much behind Yamal to take the win this year.
I can't deny Kane's effort this year but my money is Yamal for sure.

I am not saying messi is not a good player but listing him as a potential winner of the ballon d'or this season is not a fair judgement if I must say.  In the last concluded season players like Dembele did a remarkable job by leading there teams to victory and also played a very good game in the world cup if not for the fact that luck was not on there side.
Considering Messi as the most preferred option is a complete unfair decision because I don't see any strong contributions that could land that prestigious award to him apart from his performances at the world cup.
With this, if Messi is given the award I will say fifa is not operating in a fair manner because there are other players that deserves it apart from him.

[yixichloro2xx]

]
Why would you list Lionel Messi here, I think his era has come to pass after the world cup likewise Cristiano Ronaldo but he may still want to force himself because of how he is so obsessed with the world cup but that is not possible for him I mean he could not do it when he was still strong then he can not do it now. Though Messi has good statistics in the world cup but I don't think it is enough to win the award but we can not deceive this yet. The favorite here is Harry Kane and Lamine Yamal.

Messi had a pretty good year and also a very good performance at the world cup, if he had won he world cup, I bet you would you understand my reason for listing Messi. But if Messi isn't here I'm very much behind Yamal to take the win this year.
I can't deny Kane's effort this year but my money is Yamal for sure.

I am not saying messi is not a good player but listing him as a potential winner of the ballon d'or this season is not a fair judgement if I must say.  In the last concluded season players like Dembele did a remarkable job by leading there teams to victory and also played a very good game in the world cup if not for the fact that luck was not on there side.
Considering Messi as the most preferred option is a complete unfair decision because I don't see any strong contributions that could land that prestigious award to him apart from his performances at the world cup.
With this, if Messi is given the award I will say fifa is not operating in a fair manner because there are other players that deserves it apart from him.

Messi can't be added to this list because he didn't win the world. But if he had won the world cup, golden boot and golden ball, then he will become the clear favorite. We should have known that winning the world cup gives players extra boost to win the Ballon d'or. We've seen then likes of Modric (won the golden ball and silverware in 2018) won the Ballon d'or over Cristiano Ronaldo. Also Lionel Messi in 2022 with his best performance (won the world cup and golden ball with not so great season with PSG) won the Ballon d'or over Halaand. So this one of the reason why I am supporting Lamine Yamal to win this year world cup, if not maybe Harry kane/Rodri.

[Saltysugar99]

]
Why would you list Lionel Messi here, I think his era has come to pass after the world cup likewise Cristiano Ronaldo but he may still want to force himself because of how he is so obsessed with the world cup but that is not possible for him I mean he could not do it when he was still strong then he can not do it now. Though Messi has good statistics in the world cup but I don't think it is enough to win the award but we can not deceive this yet. The favorite here is Harry Kane and Lamine Yamal.

Messi had a pretty good year and also a very good performance at the world cup, if he had won he world cup, I bet you would you understand my reason for listing Messi. But if Messi isn't here I'm very much behind Yamal to take the win this year.
I can't deny Kane's effort this year but my money is Yamal for sure.

I myself not in favor of excluding Messi from this discussion. Who will win the Ballon d'Or depends on many things. It is not just about winning the world cup. Individual performance, consistency and how much impact he had in big matches are also important. And in the 2026 World Cup, after turning 39, Messi will not be in the discussion just because of his previous popularity. Rather, every match was his personal performance was way better. He has brought Argentina to the final with 8 goals and 4 assists. This is not a matter of denial. Although they lost until the last. If Argentina had won, Messi would have undoubtedly won the ballon d'or this time. I don't think there would be any argument here. Therefore, there is no reason to completely exclude Messi's name from here. And it would not be right to compare Messi with Ronaldo now. The gap between the two has increased a lot. Especially in this world cup, Ronaldo is not close to Messi's performance.

[Out of mind]

my vote goes to harry kane, too. even though lamine yamal has been performing very well over the last 2–3 seasons, i don’t think he’s ahead of harry kane this season. just like with benzema, i think harry kane will gradually fade away after winning a ballon d’or in the final years of his career. yamal is only 19 years old; i think he’ll win at least five ballon d’ors. he has a very long career ahead of him, but i don’t think he was quite complete enough to win the ballon d’or this season.

Harry Kane has performed very well this year not only this year but also in the past years he has been the best player. And in my opinion Lamine Yamal he has only played a few matches well (I am not saying he has performed badly) but considering all the aspects Harry Kane is the only one who deserves to win the Ballon d'Or.
So if it is given then of course it should be given comprehensive consideration and in every aspect

Harry Kane has performed well not only this season but also last season, he was the top scorer for the club and this season he is also the top scorer for the club. His performance was extraordinary, besides he played great in the World Cup and he had some extraordinary goals. Lamine Yamal although he played a few matches well, but in those he has achieved quite well, especially winning the La Liga champion and the World Cup as a young player, he is in a lot of form. If we consider everything, then I think Harry Kane may not be worthy, there are many other players whose performances should also be considered. When giving the Ballon d'Or, it must be given after considering the whole, especially those who have good achievements and have performed well in the game. However, we cannot yet select correctly, who will win this year's Ballon d'Or, and who will be selected as the best player, we just have to wait and see.