‎Who will win the 2026 Ballon D'or? 🏆⚽

[Xackie]

...

I was following up on your analogy until you mentioned Rodri, he shouldn’t even be in the list at all. The only thing he had for the year is a good half of the World Cup and then FIFA decided to give him the Golden ball at the World Cup which for me is undeserving at all. He had an average or below average season the times he was available, there’s absolutely nothing to back up his claim.

Rodri doesn't deserve winning this current year's Ballon d'or tittle, he might have won it in 2024 but not when many players who deserves it are listed. As for the Golden ball he deserves it, he might not have good season with Manchester City or in the Champions League which disqualifies him from winning or making top 5 in the list, but he was very impressive in the World Cup and play a majority in Spain winning the World Cup. The title is between Harry Kane and Yamal.

The only thing I know that made Rodris chance of winning this ballon d'or was his time at City last season.  He didn't playmate league games due to injury and become available fully at the final stretch of the season. It was then that Manchester City were able to to win the Carabao Cup and FA where he dropped a wonderful performance. If he played alot of games last season + his world cup performance, the trophy a golden ball , then there's no one that can compete with him for the Ballon d'or.  My predictions is either he ends up at 5th or 6th position.

[GbitG]

...

I was following up on your analogy until you mentioned Rodri, he shouldn’t even be in the list at all. The only thing he had for the year is a good half of the World Cup and then FIFA decided to give him the Golden ball at the World Cup which for me is undeserving at all. He had an average or below average season the times he was available, there’s absolutely nothing to back up his claim.

Rodri doesn't deserve winning this current year's Ballon d'or tittle, he might have won it in 2024 but not when many players who deserves it are listed. As for the Golden ball he deserves it, he might not have good season with Manchester City or in the Champions League which disqualifies him from winning or making top 5 in the list, but he was very impressive in the World Cup and play a majority in Spain winning the World Cup. The title is between Harry Kane and Yamal.

Stats and figure show us that for the first time in history a player who won FIFA Golden ball but have no assist and goals and even haven't even won any awards like MOTM except one. Literally this is absolutely Goofy like it's really make me feel surprised that how they dimwit is judges that they give a Golden Ball to those who have not any good progress in entire tournament. Rodri is good players but to be honest in World Cup tournament his performance was on scale for Golden Ball......

Lionel Messi clearly deserve this awards. Like his performance was the evidence for this awards because he was 2nd top scorer with a most assist as well as having more MOTH awards than others and even in every single match he has 8+ rating. This absolutely a eligible criteria...... But still they give it to Rodri.

IDK 

[Smack That Ace]

I’m not sure what exactly will determine who the winner will be. Is it a combination of the World Cup, league trophies won, number of goals scored or something else? It doesn’t help that the nominees have not been able to shut up about the award. Personally, I think Olise had a better year than Kane but people seem to believe Harry Kane is a better candidate for the award.

Any player's best season in term of career performance and season that leave deepest impression on audience can be different. There is no question about Kane's extraordinary goal scoring ability. However to make comparison with Olise, we must look beyond just goal and consider overall contribution of both player. Alongside assist and creation of goal scoring opportunity, a player's significant contribution and their impact on team's overall performance should also be taken into account. However I cannot quite accept argument that Kane should win Ballon d’Or simply because he has been playing for so many year.

This is not any lifetime achievement award. key factor is who performed best during specific evaluation period. Similarly fact that Mbappe scored more goal at World Cup does not make him winner. I would consider Kane strong candidate. But strongest argument in his favor should be his complete season. Factor like it being last chance of his career or his seniority are irrelevant.

[Ummeettaa]

The only thing I know that made Rodris chance of winning this ballon d'or was his time at City last season.  He didn't playmate league games due to injury and become available fully at the final stretch of the season. It was then that Manchester City were able to to win the Carabao Cup and FA where he dropped a wonderful performance. If he played alot of games last season + his world cup performance, the trophy a golden ball , then there's no one that can compete with him for the Ballon d'or.  My predictions is either he ends up at 5th or 6th position.

With no doubt the best player that deserves the Balloon d'or is Lamin Yamal and it should just be handed over to him, because his performance in both the club last season and country side was outstanding. Giving Rodri the award will eventually cause chaos and might feel biased, because even with his performance in the world cup, he was not able to have much playing time in the club side last season.

Yamal on the other hand Won the Laliga,  Spanish super cup, Laliga player of the season, first player ever in Laliga history to win 3 player of the month award, with so many individual awards and above all the FIFA World cup. I doubt if there is any other player that achieved more than he did to have warrant the person deserving the award than him.

[ruykeri]

The only thing I know that made Rodris chance of winning this ballon d'or was his time at City last season.  He didn't playmate league games due to injury and become available fully at the final stretch of the season. It was then that Manchester City were able to to win the Carabao Cup and FA where he dropped a wonderful performance. If he played alot of games last season + his world cup performance, the trophy a golden ball , then there's no one that can compete with him for the Ballon d'or.  My predictions is either he ends up at 5th or 6th position.

With no doubt the best player that deserves the Balloon d'or is Lamin Yamal and it should just be handed over to him, because his performance in both the club last season and country side was outstanding. Giving Rodri the award will eventually cause chaos and might feel biased, because even with his performance in the world cup, he was not able to have much playing time in the club side last season.

Yamal on the other hand Won the Laliga,  Spanish super cup, Laliga player of the season, first player ever in Laliga history to win 3 player of the month award, with so many individual awards and above all the FIFA World cup. I doubt if there is any other player that achieved more than he did to have warrant the person deserving the award than him.

I agree with you. If only Rodri and Lamine Yamal are compared, then I think Yamal will be in a slightly better position. Yamal performed well in the World Cup. In addition he is now making a very good impact in La Liga. He has scored many goals and assists in La Liga. So I see his performance as much better than Rodri. Many people here may think that Rodri won the Golden Ball in the World Cup, so he should get the Ballon d'Or. But he may be the best player in the World Cup, but in the case of Ballon d'Or, only the World Cup is not considered. Here, the vote is given considering all types of overall performance. And both Rodri and Yamal played for Spain as players in the World Cup Winning Team. So since only the World Cup is not being considered here Yamal is definitely in a better position than Rodri.

[SuperBitMan]

The announcement is just around the corner on October 26th, we’ll find out who wins the Ballon d'Or. I also think Harry Kane deserves it. It’s not just about trophies.
His performance in the league was outstanding. There are very few strikers close to Kane's quality, he might even be the best of them all. Personally, I think he is better than Mbappé. I believe the real contest right now is between Kane and Yamal.

However, if we consider the impact of the World Cup, Yamal's name will come there because his team won the World Cup

Why should his name be there, even though his country won the World Cup he did not give any good performance in the World Cup. He was just like ordinary player in the World Cup. I don’t rate him at all in the world cup, the person that had the best world Cup was Mbappé, he performed very well and had the highest number of goal. ballon d’Or is by individual performance and not team performance.

The only reason we are still debating about the ballon d’Or is because the ballon d’Or organizers are corrupt. They don’t have any standard, they pick whoever they want, if they had a standard I don’t think there will be a much debate on who will win the ballon d’Or.

[KTChampions]

Why should his name be there, even though his country won the World Cup he did not give any good performance in the World Cup. He was just like ordinary player in the World Cup. I don’t rate him at all in the world cup, the person that had the best world Cup was Mbappé, he performed very well and had the highest number of goal. ballon d’Or is by individual performance and not team performance.

The only reason we are still debating about the ballon d’Or is because the ballon d’Or organizers are corrupt. They don’t have any standard, they pick whoever they want, if they had a standard I don’t think there will be a much debate on who will win the ballon d’Or.

It would be strange if, after the previous three years of incredible PR, Yamal was not on the list, but he definitely shouldn’t be in the top 3. That’s for sure. And I don’t think that if there was no corruption, it would be easy for us/the award organizers to decide who was the best last season. Kane, Mbappé, and Olise all set records last season (though Kane might not have set an all-time record per se, he did post the second-most productive season ever for a forward). It is hard to say who was better, especially considering that Olise plays a different position.

[Decimetre]

The announcement is just around the corner on October 26th, we’ll find out who wins the Ballon d'Or. I also think Harry Kane deserves it. It’s not just about trophies.
His performance in the league was outstanding. There are very few strikers close to Kane's quality, he might even be the best of them all. Personally, I think he is better than Mbappé. I believe the real contest right now is between Kane and Yamal.

However, if we consider the impact of the World Cup, Yamal's name will come there because his team won the World Cup

Why should his name be there, even though his country won the World Cup he did not give any good performance in the World Cup. He was just like ordinary player in the World Cup. I don’t rate him at all in the world cup, the person that had the best world Cup was Mbappé, he performed very well and had the highest number of goal. ballon d’Or is by individual performance and not team performance.

The only reason we are still debating about the ballon d’Or is because the ballon d’Or organizers are corrupt. They don’t have any standard, they pick whoever they want, if they had a standard I don’t think there will be a much debate on who will win the ballon d’Or.

Based on individual performance, Kylian Mbappe remains the favourite to win this award as he proved himself in all the tournaments he participated last season but here we are, still not certain about who the winner becomes. Anyways, I saw a news that made me relieved this morning about how Kylian Mbappe is now the favourite and leading the race in a poll https://dailypost.ng/2026/10/13/ballon-dor-2026-lamine-yamal-falls-far-behind-as-mbappe-leads-race-see-top-three/ currently.

If not the level of corruption in football and FIFA, Mbappe clearly deserves to win the award. October 26th is no longer far and we see another round of unpredictable outcome, perhaps. The winner should be better Kane or Mbappe as they're truly of individual accolades than Lamine Yamal who was like any other players in the world cup. The laliga shouldn't be enough to push him into an award like Balon d'Or for last season.

[Fiatless]

It would be strange if, after the previous three years of incredible PR, Yamal was not on the list, but he definitely shouldn’t be in the top 3. That’s for sure. And I don’t think that if there was no corruption, it would be easy for us/the award organizers to decide who was the best last season. Kane, Mbappé, and Olise all set records last season (though Kane might not have set an all-time record per se, he did post the second-most productive season ever for a forward). It is hard to say who was better, especially considering that Olise plays a different position.

The assumption that Yamal shouldn't be in the top three is debatable. He has made uncommon impact in his club and country. Barcelona and Spain winning trophies has also strengthened the argument that he deserves to make the top three in the list. Olise is on another level but Bayern Munich is not placing him at the center of grand in scale global media attention like Barca is giving to Yamal.

I keep telling people that any player between Kane, Mbappe, Olise and Yamal could win this trophy without agitations like we experienced in 2021 when Messi won the award instead of Robert Lewandowski.

[Nasdel4]

On the ballon D’or favorite for me I think Lamine yamal should be the ideal winner based on personal achievements and team achievements compared to others , Harry Kane has a fantastic season with Bayern Munich but he wasn’t the player of the season in Germany it was Micheal Olise and if you check the league rating Spanish league is more competitive than the German league.
As for Kylian Mbappe based on personal statistics he was fabulous and outstanding among other competitors but zero team achievement which he went trophy-less all season and there is no how the ballon de or get to him he should have been the best candidate only if he was able to win the World Cup which he was still outstanding among other competitors , Dembele of PSG is no way in top 3 base on so many factors..
1. He played the least matches among other competitors
2. He is not even the main man in his country When it comes to international football unlike the likes of yamal , Kane and Mbappe.
The ballon D’or should be given to a player who  has good personal statistics n good trophies  to show just like Lamine Yamal that has total of 25 goals and 17 assists with a La Liga trophy  Spanish super cup and the World Cup in general to show , he is also the best La Liga player of the season when you have the likes of Mbappe and vini.
So definitely Lamine yamal is the best candidate for the award.

[KTChampions]

It would be strange if, after the previous three years of incredible PR, Yamal was not on the list, but he definitely shouldn’t be in the top 3. That’s for sure. And I don’t think that if there was no corruption, it would be easy for us/the award organizers to decide who was the best last season. Kane, Mbappé, and Olise all set records last season (though Kane might not have set an all-time record per se, he did post the second-most productive season ever for a forward). It is hard to say who was better, especially considering that Olise plays a different position.

The assumption that Yamal shouldn't be in the top three is debatable. He has made uncommon impact in his club and country. Barcelona and Spain winning trophies has also strengthened the argument that he deserves to make the top three in the list. Olise is on another level but Bayern Munich is not placing him at the center of grand in scale global media attention like Barca is giving to Yamal.

I keep telling people that any player between Kane, Mbappe, Olise and Yamal could win this trophy without agitations like we experienced in 2021 when Messi won the award instead of Robert Lewandowski.

Could you give a little more detail on how uncommon impact it was? I don't deny that he was good and above average, but if we take the two main tournaments - the Champions League and the World Cup, he didn't make it into the team of the best players in either one. I’ve heard that a player has never won the Ballon d'Or without having been included in one of those symbolic teams. It seems obvious to me, then, that if we have other strong candidates, how could Yamal be among them? He is definitely outside the top three.

[Brizi5000]

The announcement is just around the corner on October 26th, we’ll find out who wins the Ballon d'Or. I also think Harry Kane deserves it. It’s not just about trophies.
His performance in the league was outstanding. There are very few strikers close to Kane's quality, he might even be the best of them all. Personally, I think he is better than Mbappé. I believe the real contest right now is between Kane and Yamal.

However, if we consider the impact of the World Cup, Yamal's name will come there because his team won the World Cup

Why should his name be there, even though his country won the World Cup he did not give any good performance in the World Cup. He was just like ordinary player in the World Cup. I don’t rate him at all in the world cup, the person that had the best world Cup was Mbappé, he performed very well and had the highest number of goal. ballon d’Or is by individual performance and not team performance.

The only reason we are still debating about the ballon d’Or is because the ballon d’Or organizers are corrupt. They don’t have any standard, they pick whoever they want, if they had a standard I don’t think there will be a much debate on who will win the ballon d’Or.

Judging by their performance in the World Cup he doesn’t deserve to be in that position as there are at least two players who I think should be ahead of him. Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe had more impact in their respective teams during the World Cup and they scored more goals too, so their individual contributions and influence in their teams should rightly place them ahead of Yamal. And not just in the World Cup I think over all individual performance last season Mbappe had an outstanding season but no trophy to show for it and that remains the only reason why he might miss out on winning the award but I still expect him to be in the top 2 with Harry Kane.

[Abu-Naim]

Judging by their performance in the World Cup he doesn’t deserve to be in that position as there are at least two players who I think should be ahead of him. Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe had more impact in their respective teams during the World Cup and they scored more goals too, so their individual contributions and influence in their teams should rightly place them ahead of Yamal. And not just in the World Cup I think over all individual performance last season Mbappe had an outstanding season but no trophy to show for it and that remains the only reason why he might miss out on winning the award but I still expect him to be in the top 2 with Harry Kane.

One of the reasons why Mbappe is underrated in this award by many people is team achievements, his team didn’t win any trophy last season despite scoring highest goals in almost ok the competitions he played; and his national team France  wasn’t able to also reach the third position as they lost to England, yet, he scored more goals than Yamal in all these competitions.

Everyone have his favorite players  among these players, and all of them will bring reasons for these players to be worthy of the award because all the listed top four players are good and had impressive season across all competitions. For now, we can’t say, but I think they luckiest player will win it.

[icebar]

Judging by their performance in the World Cup he doesn’t deserve to be in that position as there are at least two players who I think should be ahead of him. Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe had more impact in their respective teams during the World Cup and they scored more goals too, so their individual contributions and influence in their teams should rightly place them ahead of Yamal. And not just in the World Cup I think over all individual performance last season Mbappe had an outstanding season but no trophy to show for it and that remains the only reason why he might miss out on winning the award but I still expect him to be in the top 2 with Harry Kane.

One of the reasons why Mbappe is underrated in this award by many people is team achievements, his team didn’t win any trophy last season despite scoring highest goals in almost ok the competitions he played; and his national team France  wasn’t able to also reach the third position as they lost to England, yet, he scored more goals than Yamal in all these competitions.

Everyone have his favorite players  among these players, and all of them will bring reasons for these players to be worthy of the award because all the listed top four players are good and had impressive season across all competitions. For now, we can’t say, but I think they luckiest player will win it.

There is a difference between winning through a regulatory body and winning through an independent vote. I think some hype works here. When Polymarket puts Harry Kane first, then Yamal and then Mbappe, many are quite disappointed. However, there is still confidence among all the supporters because who the journalists think is the best is the main thing. Regardless of the prediction market or betting odds, I will still claim Harry Kane, Mbappe and Yamal as worthy in this competition. There is enough logic to claim here. If voters vote for their favorite player by observing various aspects including individual and team performance, goals, team position, big trophies, then it will definitely be easy to select a worthy player.

[Abu-Naim]

There is a difference between winning through a regulatory body and winning through an independent vote. I think some hype works here. When Polymarket puts Harry Kane first, then Yamal and then Mbappe, many are quite disappointed. However, there is still confidence among all the supporters because who the journalists think is the best is the main thing. Regardless of the prediction market or betting odds, I will still claim Harry Kane, Mbappe and Yamal as worthy in this competition. There is enough logic to claim here. If voters vote for their favorite player by observing various aspects including individual and team performance, goals, team position, big trophies, then it will definitely be easy to select a worthy player.

The prediction market might have their separate ways of putting players on top, but Kane deserves to be at the top because he scored goals and has won trophies with Bayern Munich and also did well in the World Cup and the three lines finished third in the competition, therefore, he is worthy of the award.

However, Dembele was not mentioned by you despite winning the champions league, League 1, and also his performance in the World Cup; or is it because of the two players in their same national team that are in this conversation? Or he didn’t also qualify to be among the top players worthy of the award? Because to some extent, he did perform well also last season and won almost all trophies he played except the World Cup.