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

[Pearl_20]

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.

Exactly, what's affected Mbappe is club achievements. Sometimes i reason Mbappe issue having hard luck of winning champions league when playing for PSG. Since he arrived in real Madrid they where unable to win laliga for 2 seasons now even with the goals he scored putting all his efforts if they can win laliga.

Every individual have their favorite players, just as you said those 4 player's did very well. But for me since Harry kane and yamal are in first and second they should give one among them especially kane, because yamal still have all it takes to win it in times to come.

In terms of personal achievement Kylian Mbappe is qualified because of his goals prowess but when it comes to club achievements, he hasn't been able to achieve any title with Real Madrid and that is just what has affected his chances of emerging the ballon d'or favourite. Mbappe was just unfortunate at Real Madrid, if he had continued with PSG he would have won the Ballon d'or and still have 2 Champions League title to his name.

Lamine Yamal and Harry Kane are the key target for the most decorated award but Lamine Yamal stands a better chance because of individual performance and club achievement, he even achieved the World cup title with his country Spain, that's enough to win him the award.

[alastantiger]

Amidst all the controversy surrounding the Ballon d'Or, can you imagine Messi winning it? Just as a tribute because he's already retired? This would be the final blow they could deliver to the world of football, leaving everyone worse off than we can even imagine.
I'm seriously considering the possibility of Messi winning. If the Ballon d'Or is awarded for the best performance a player can achieve, Messi is still ahead of all the other candidates this year.

This could have been a possibility if Argentina had won the world cup but unfortunately for them they did not win and were second best county in the tournament. It would had been a good way to end his career but even the goat could not give Argentina a successful trophy defence but it is better that he is not among the favourites to win it, let then allow the next generation get some more recognition because it is things like this that will motivate players to put in more performance so that they can win now that they know Messi is no longer in their way to have a chance at winning. It has always been unfair to other players that Messi keeps being the favourite everytime but that is not going to happen anymore, anyone now has a fair chance at winning.

[Crypto_Timothy]

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 this, Yamal deserves to win the Balon d'Or this year because for both his country at the world cup and international breaks, he has performed greatly and provided alot of opportunities and even in the club level, I mean we saw the match some days ago with Turkish side and we saw the performance he put into even receiving the man of the match award. Just like you said asides team trophies, he has own alot of individual trophies even this year, so he is a very strong contender for the position. I don't think Rodri should be in the conversation for this year's d'Or but we will leave it up to the journalists and coaches that will later make the vote

[Nwadiche]

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.

Exactly, what's affected Mbappe is club achievements. Sometimes i reason Mbappe issue having hard luck of winning champions league when playing for PSG. Since he arrived in real Madrid they where unable to win laliga for 2 seasons now even with the goals he scored putting all his efforts if they can win laliga.

Every individual have their favorite players, just as you said those 4 player's did very well. But for me since Harry kane and yamal are in first and second they should give one among them especially kane, because yamal still have all it takes to win it in times to come.

In terms of personal achievement Kylian Mbappe is qualified because of his goals prowess but when it comes to club achievements, he hasn't been able to achieve any title with Real Madrid and that is just what has affected his chances of emerging the ballon d'or favourite. Mbappe was just unfortunate at Real Madrid, if he had continued with PSG he would have won the Ballon d'or and still have 2 Champions League title to his name.

Lamine Yamal and Harry Kane are the key target for the most decorated award but Lamine Yamal stands a better chance because of individual performance and club achievement, he even achieved the World cup title with his country Spain, that's enough to win him the award.

Talking About Kylian Mbappe, this guy really messed up by leaving PSG  seriously he would remain there and play for me seasons . If he was still playing for PSG 2 seasons ago he would won the champions league twice now, who knows maybe the ballon d'or Osman Dembele won last season he would've be the one to win it but he left the club thinking going to real Madrid will favor him more than PSG. Now for over 2 seasons real Madrid didn't win laliga till dates, that's just some makes some players are doing and this was the same thing hazard did whe he was playing for Chelsea,  he left Chelsea to Madrid and killed his carrier i pray he didn't end up like that too.

[Saltysugar99]

Amidst all the controversy surrounding the Ballon d'Or, can you imagine Messi winning it? Just as a tribute because he's already retired? This would be the final blow they could deliver to the world of football, leaving everyone worse off than we can even imagine.
I'm seriously considering the possibility of Messi winning. If the Ballon d'Or is awarded for the best performance a player can achieve, Messi is still ahead of all the other candidates this year.

This could have been a possibility if Argentina had won the world cup but unfortunately for them they did not win and were second best county in the tournament. It would had been a good way to end his career but even the goat could not give Argentina a successful trophy defence but it is better that he is not among the favourites to win it, let then allow the next generation get some more recognition because it is things like this that will motivate players to put in more performance so that they can win now that they know Messi is no longer in their way to have a chance at winning. It has always been unfair to other players that Messi keeps being the favourite everytime but that is not going to happen anymore, anyone now has a fair chance at winning.

I agree with you. If Argentina had won the World Cup, then Messi would have had a much higher chance of winning the Ballon d'Or. Because he had a significant contribution behind every victory of the Argentine team in the World Cup. We must understand that winning the World Cup is a big factor in winning the Ballon d'Or. Considering this aspect, Lamine Yamal's chances of winning the Ballon d'Or are very much . Now if the new players perform well, then they can also win the Ballon d'Or. Although we have seen many types of controversies in the past for the selection of winning the Ballon d'Or. Messi and Ronaldo have won the Ballon d'Or multiple times. There is a good reason behind this. Because at that time they performed better than all the other players. Messi has maintained his position for the last few years. He has been performing well. Since the World Cup has been held this year, and this is why the World Cup stands as a big factor.

[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.

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.

The ballon d’Or is already near and we are going to know who will win it very soon just like you have said Mbappé or Kane deserves to win the ballon d’Or because they did an exceptional thing, they performed very well and broke record.
If they give it to yamal it is not genuine because he didn’t deserve it. What did he did that was special, did he break any record?

The power is in the hands of the voters and they are done with the vote already, so we just have to wait till the day of the ballon d’Or for them to call the winner. I just hope the corruption will not affect it.

[alastantiger]

I agree with you. If Argentina had won the World Cup, then Messi would have had a much higher chance of winning the Ballon d'Or. Because he had a significant contribution behind every victory of the Argentine team in the World Cup. We must understand that winning the World Cup is a big factor in winning the Ballon d'Or. Considering this aspect, Lamine Yamal's chances of winning the Ballon d'Or are very much.

The award is not a team award but an individual award and Lamine Yamal did not have a good world cup campaign, how many goals or assists did he have or I's there any time that the team needed him and he turned up in the world cup games. Spain were just a better team all together and not individually hence you can not give the award to Lamine Yamal. If someone from the Spain team was to win then it has to be from the defenders or Rodri because he was more present in the tournament than the player you are mentioning. It is his PR that is putting his name in the conversation because I do not think he deserves to win it. If the organizers are confuse on who to give the award to then they should just give it to Messi as they always do and it will be a good send forth gift for his retirement.

[Somto9Light]

There are also enough reasons for Harry Kane's chances to be high. His personal performance is good and the number of goals are also high. In addition, his performance is quite consistent. That is why the most excitement is with him in the betting odds. His name also comes first in terms of winning the trophy. However, if we consider the impact of the World Cup, Yamal's name will come there because his team won the World Cup and also has a win in club football. Finally the win depends on how the voters evaluate it. However, Harry Kane will be ahead in overall terms.

Harry Kane was not in the discussion of the favourites to win the Ballon d'Or awards initially, I'm kind of surprised that he is now appearing as the possible nominee to win it. However, Harry Kane has been very outstanding right from his spell at Tottenham and he continued and remained consistent even at Bayern Munich so if he becomes the winner, it won't be a questionable situation.

However, I'm afraid that what happened to Vinicius Jr where he had so much visibility to win the Ballon d'Or but it was diverted to Rodri, so i fear similar thing might happen to Harry Kane and the award given to his closest rival, Lamine Yamal. Either Lamine Yamal or Harry Kane, whoever the panel of international journalists decides is qualified enough.

[danadc]

This could have been a possibility if Argentina had won the world cup but unfortunately for them they did not win and were second best county in the tournament. It would had been a good way to end his career but even the goat could not give Argentina a successful trophy defence but it is better that he is not among the favourites to win it, let then allow the next generation get some more recognition because it is things like this that will motivate players to put in more performance so that they can win now that they know Messi is no longer in their way to have a chance at winning. It has always been unfair to other players that Messi keeps being the favourite everytime but that is not going to happen anymore, anyone now has a fair chance at winning.

These arguments are very good, but if they can give it to him even though Messi wasn't very outstanding, but his fame speaks for itself, I see that the candidate to win could be Mbappe or Kane, if we are fair they are the players who stood out the most in the World Cup and if the Ballon d'Or stands out now because its date coincided with the post-World Cup, it should be like that, because this year is not like the others, this year is a World Cup year and that should weigh much more than the performance of the leagues that are local.

[IceLincoln]

In terms of personal achievement Kylian Mbappe is qualified because of his goals prowess but when it comes to club achievements, he hasn't been able to achieve any title with Real Madrid and that is just what has affected his chances of emerging the ballon d'or favourite. Mbappe was just unfortunate at Real Madrid, if he had continued with PSG he would have won the Ballon d'or and still have 2 Champions League title to his name.

Kylian Mbappe has done so well for himself no doubt but what is your influence when your team has nothing to show for your achievements and it’s not because they’re a team that isn’t used to winning titles. They just won the league and UCL before his arrival. So for a player like Kylian playing for a club like Real Madrid he’s going to be judged by what his team have achieved with him. For a long time Harry Kane was judged by his team’s achievements and not what he’s achieved.

Now let me say this, if Mbappe was still at PSG they wouldn’t have won two champions league and he wouldn’t have won any Ballon D’or.

[Sunshine1525]

Kylian Mbappe has done so well for himself no doubt but what is your influence when your team has nothing to show for your achievements and it’s not because they’re a team that isn’t used to winning titles. They just won the league and UCL before his arrival. So for a player like Kylian playing for a club like Real Madrid he’s going to be judged by what his team have achieved with him. For a long time Harry Kane was judged by his team’s achievements and not what he’s achieved.

Now let me say this, if Mbappe was still at PSG they wouldn’t have won two champions league and he wouldn’t have won any Ballon D’or.

He's just so unlucky, he got to Real Madrid when things became worst, if Real Madrid won some trophies last season and were finalist in the Champions League, his chances of winning the tittle would've been higher, why Harry Kane and Yamal have better chances is because they have good individuals records, backed with trophies.

How sure are you that they wouldn't had won the Champions league if he was in PSG, are you saying that he's a bad luck to any team he goes to? PSG won the UCL last season so if Mbappé was there he would've won with them too. Or do you mean he'll disorganise the team with dressing room issues?

[sergiorus]

In terms of personal achievement Kylian Mbappe is qualified because of his goals prowess but when it comes to club achievements, he hasn't been able to achieve any title with Real Madrid and that is just what has affected his chances of emerging the ballon d'or favourite. Mbappe was just unfortunate at Real Madrid, if he had continued with PSG he would have won the Ballon d'or and still have 2 Champions League title to his name.

~snip~
Now let me say this, if Mbappe was still at PSG they wouldn’t have won two champions league and he wouldn’t have won any Ballon D’or.

Now that's a weird take. They have been way stronger than their every opponent in the UCL in the last two years, so what makes you think the best (or 2nd best) forward in the world would change it to the degree where they would starts losing to the teams they confidently won against without him?

Is it just baseless personal hate?

[iDEEMEE]

Harry Kane and Kylian Mabappe are my top contenders for the Ballon D'or. Both of them had an excellent performance in their respective club and countries as well. Harry Kane has being robbed off the Ballon D'or once so its only natural that he takes a chance at it this time because he has always being consistent with his performance every single season and has shown what hardwork looks like.

Harry Kane: 65 G/A in all competition last season.
Kylian Mbappe: 60 G/A in all competition last season.

Does anyone still think that these two should not be leading the Ballon D'or pool even after an extraordinary World Cup performance.

Actually I think winning Ballon D’or and being a leading candidate is not entirely based on past records.
As you've said mbappe and Harry have good leading chances to stand at the top 3 but at the end of the day the Trophy will belong to the person who is able to out perform beyond past results. Harry Kane in my opinion has a high chance but I think he may have another near success effort.

[Sobz]

Kylian Mbappe has done so well for himself no doubt but what is your influence when your team has nothing to show for your achievements and it’s not because they’re a team that isn’t used to winning titles. They just won the league and UCL before his arrival. So for a player like Kylian playing for a club like Real Madrid he’s going to be judged by what his team have achieved with him. For a long time Harry Kane was judged by his team’s achievements and not what he’s achieved.

Now let me say this, if Mbappe was still at PSG they wouldn’t have won two champions league and he wouldn’t have won any Ballon D’or.

Since Mbappe joined Real Madrid it seems it has been challenging for him, his personal achievements in the club cant even be compared to when he was in PSG.  His achievements so far in Real Madrid can really affect him in winning the ballon d'or and is team did not win the league. I think Mbappe is not meeting with the requirements that can enable him to win the Ballon d'Or,  if it were the time he was in PSG with lots of personal achievements it is very possible for him win it.

[Charcol]

I agree with you. If Argentina had won the World Cup, then Messi would have had a much higher chance of winning the Ballon d'Or. Because he had a significant contribution behind every victory of the Argentine team in the World Cup. We must understand that winning the World Cup is a big factor in winning the Ballon d'Or. Considering this aspect, Lamine Yamal's chances of winning the Ballon d'Or are very much.

The award is not a team award but an individual award and Lamine Yamal did not have a good world cup campaign, how many goals or assists did he have or I's there any time that the team needed him and he turned up in the world cup games. Spain were just a better team all together and not individually hence you can not give the award to Lamine Yamal. If someone from the Spain team was to win then it has to be from the defenders or Rodri because he was more present in the tournament than the player you are mentioning. It is his PR that is putting his name in the conversation because I do not think he deserves to win it. If the organizers are confuse on who to give the award to then they should just give it to Messi as they always do and it will be a good send forth gift for his retirement.

Of course, the Ballon d’Or is not a team award. But I don’t understand why you are denying Yamal’s impact at the World Cup. Yamal played a key part in Spain winning the World Cup. You just look at his stats at the World Cup, he took 27 shots in the entire tournament, the third highest in the competition. That alone is enough to understand that he was not only in the team, but also had a regular impact in attack. There are many other strong arguments in Yamal’s favor outside the World Cup, he won La Liga with Barcelona. Winning the World Cup with Spain and his goal-assist contribution throughout the season have placed him among the strongest players.

[KTChampions]

~snip~
Now let me say this, if Mbappe was still at PSG they wouldn’t have won two champions league and he wouldn’t have won any Ballon D’or.

Now that's a weird take. They have been way stronger than their every opponent in the UCL in the last two years, so what makes you think the best (or 2nd best) forward in the world would change it to the degree where they would starts losing to the teams they confidently won against without him?

Is it just baseless personal hate?

I’m sure this guy is a Messi fanboy 
But he will never write that Messi was a useless dead weight for PSG - even though, before Messi arrived, PSG had reached a Champions League final and a semi-final, with Messi, the team was crushed in the Round of 16 twice, and as soon as Messi left, PSG went on to win the Champions League twice.
You know, logic and facts don’t work on fanboys when they contradict their obsession 
And in general, I’m always surprised by people who know for certain what would have happened if things had gone differently. They must have all become millionaires long ago by placing bets or playing prediction markets.

[Decimetre]

In terms of personal achievement Kylian Mbappe is qualified because of his goals prowess but when it comes to club achievements, he hasn't been able to achieve any title with Real Madrid and that is just what has affected his chances of emerging the ballon d'or favourite. Mbappe was just unfortunate at Real Madrid, if he had continued with PSG he would have won the Ballon d'or and still have 2 Champions League title to his name.

~snip~
Now let me say this, if Mbappe was still at PSG they wouldn’t have won two champions league and he wouldn’t have won any Ballon D’or.

Now that's a weird take. They have been way stronger than their every opponent in the UCL in the last two years, so what makes you think the best (or 2nd best) forward in the world would change it to the degree where they would starts losing to the teams they confidently won against without him?

Is it just baseless personal hate?

It is indeed not a realistic claim to say that if Mbappe was still there, they wouldn't win the champions League nor Balon d'Or for him. But somehow, if you look at it logically, now I'm looking at it from a team play point of view, it could appear to be possible, perhaps. Some of his haters put this claim up from the aspect of a selfish playing style which they accuse him of. PSG is always a strong team and there was also a time when they had Neymar, Messi and Mbappe and no champions League was won by this team. It could have been a managers error or a hardluck too.

Mbappe is a very excellent player on his own and deserves every accolades he receives. If he is given the Balon d'Or there won't be much of a debate because Balon d'Or is an individual award and not a team award even though having a team achievement proves an individual real impact in a team. But when a good player finds himself in the midst of not very good players, how can he win a trophy?

Kylian Mbappe has done so well for himself no doubt but what is your influence when your team has nothing to show for your achievements and it’s not because they’re a team that isn’t used to winning titles. They just won the league and UCL before his arrival. So for a player like Kylian playing for a club like Real Madrid he’s going to be judged by what his team have achieved with him. For a long time Harry Kane was judged by his team’s achievements and not what he’s achieved.

Now let me say this, if Mbappe was still at PSG they wouldn’t have won two champions league and he wouldn’t have won any Ballon D’or.

Since Mbappe joined Real Madrid it seems it has been challenging for him, his personal achievements in the club cant even be compared to when he was in PSG.  His achievements so far in Real Madrid can really affect him in winning the ballon d'or and is team did not win the league. I think Mbappe is not meeting with the requirements that can enable him to win the Ballon d'Or,  if it were the time he was in PSG with lots of personal achievements it is very possible for him win it.

It is true that no recent winners of Balon d'Or has gone a season without winning a title during the season, but it is not new to see records of players who have won the Balon d'Or without winning titles. Up to 6 players have won it already and it happens not often. Before the last time Ronaldo won it without winning a title, it was 13 years since Luis Figo won it without winning any title. Now is 2026, 13 years later and it's about to happen, perhaps. Mbappe is in good position to win but until 26th when it will be decided. For now, anyone can speculate anything.

[Localhostspeed]

Talking About Kylian Mbappe, this guy really messed up by leaving PSG  seriously he would remain there and play for me seasons . If he was still playing for PSG 2 seasons ago he would won the champions league twice now, who knows maybe the ballon d'or Osman Dembele won last season he would've be the one to win it but he left the club thinking going to real Madrid will favor him more than PSG. Now for over 2 seasons real Madrid didn't win laliga till dates, that's just some makes some players are doing and this was the same thing hazard did whe he was playing for Chelsea,  he left Chelsea to Madrid and killed his carrier i pray he didn't end up like that too.

You are one sided and it's not fair now. Kylian was given an offer to come to Real Madrid, the offer was so good that he could live and become the main guy at Real Madrid but he didn't left. I think that was when the French President reached out to him and his mum. He decided to stay there despite the offers they gave him but later, they decided to trash him and he returned the energy and left as free agent. He refused to honor their contract.

Did he made a mistake to Real Madrid, I don't think so, he saw an opportunity and he used it but Real Madrid made a big mistake to signed him. The same mistake they made in keeping Vinicious now. Although, that doesn't in anyway stop his personal ambition, I don't think by personal ranking there is any player in that team that did better than him in anyways. He deserve the Balon D'or like other players.

[Ale88]

I agree with you. If Argentina had won the World Cup, then Messi would have had a much higher chance of winning the Ballon d'Or. Because he had a significant contribution behind every victory of the Argentine team in the World Cup. We must understand that winning the World Cup is a big factor in winning the Ballon d'Or. Considering this aspect, Lamine Yamal's chances of winning the Ballon d'Or are very much.

The award is not a team award but an individual award and Lamine Yamal did not have a good world cup campaign, how many goals or assists did he have or I's there any time that the team needed him and he turned up in the world cup games. Spain were just a better team all together and not individually hence you can not give the award to Lamine Yamal. If someone from the Spain team was to win then it has to be from the defenders or Rodri because he was more present in the tournament than the player you are mentioning. It is his PR that is putting his name in the conversation because I do not think he deserves to win it. If the organizers are confuse on who to give the award to then they should just give it to Messi as they always do and it will be a good send forth gift for his retirement.

If I remember correctly, Yamal took part at the World Cup while being partially injured, and yet his performances were pretty good despite everything. I think people focus too much on the number of goals and assists leaving out all the rest of the performances.
Spain played very well as a whole team, I wouldn't say we had a single player that particularly stood out or that basically lead the whole team, so it's a tricky situation to choose a candidate. I liked a lot Cubarsí but of course I wouldn't give him the Golden Ball.

[danadc]

Of course, the Ballon d’Or is not a team award. But I don’t understand why you are denying Yamal’s impact at the World Cup. Yamal played a key part in Spain winning the World Cup. You just look at his stats at the World Cup, he took 27 shots in the entire tournament, the third highest in the competition. That alone is enough to understand that he was not only in the team, but also had a regular impact in attack. There are many other strong arguments in Yamal’s favor outside the World Cup, he won La Liga with Barcelona. Winning the World Cup with Spain and his goal-assist contribution throughout the season have placed him among the strongest players.

Yes, Lamine contributed a lot to winning the World Cup, but he wasn't an outstanding player in the tournament itself. Kane, Messi, and Mbappé were outstanding, and that's what journalists should focus on. Lamine being the most outstanding player in his local league is another matter, but what should be considered is his performance in the World Cup. It's an event that leaves a lasting impression, and that's what stays in people's minds: the World Cup.

I have friends who only remember the World Cup; the leagues are just "more football," and that's it. Many people think that way, which is why Lamine is good, but he didn't stand out in the World Cup.