The Ballon d’Or 2026
The most prestigious individual award in the history football. Who are the favourites? And who is most likely to come out victorious?
The Ballon d’Or was first awarded on the 18th of December 1956, created and brought to life by the French Magazine ‘France Football’. English winger Sir Stanley Matthews won the first prize, which was previously called the European Footballer of the Year. But in 1995, it was agreed that players from all around the world could win the award, not just European nationals. So, the name change was agreed, and over 30 years later, the Ballon d’Or (Golden Ball) is still regarded as the pinnacle of footballing recognition and greatness, with the likes of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo winning the award a whopping 13 times between them.
After another thrilling season of football came and went, ending with Spain’s World Cup triumph vs Argentina on the 19th of July, the gaze of the billions of football fans across the globe focused their attention on the Ballon d’Or ceremony, which takes place on the 26th of October. Normally, whoever wins the most club trophies and performs the best individually wins the award, but every four years there is a slight twist. The World Cup plays a colossal part in who takes the Golden Ball home, as shown in Messi’s win in 2022 and Luka Modric’s in 2018 after taking massive underdogs Croatia to the World Cup final. Many fans like the idea of the World Cup being the fundamental aspect of the Ballon d’Or once every four years, but others argue that a 6-week tournament shouldn’t override the 10 months of regular, week-in-week-out club football that commences every year.
Regardless of what the public opinion is, the 100 lucky journalists that are chosen to vote for their winner must start doing some thorough, unbiased research on the 2025/26 season and which players stood out the most. Arguments and debates have already sparked online about who deserves the award, and there is no doubt that Ballon d’Or conversations will continue until the winner is announced this time next month. However, there are a small handful of players who no one can deny are in for a good shot to win the award, and after analysing many different viewpoints and opinions, here is the predicted Top 5 for the Ballon d’Or.
5. Kylian Mbappe (Real Madrid & France)
Individual stats: 55 appearances, 57 goals, 13 assists Awards/Trophies: LaLiga Golden Boot, World Cup Golden Boot, UCL Golden Boot
The main reasoning behind Kylian Mbappe not being the favourite to win the award is because he simply did not win any trophies, both with Real Madrid and France. But, aside from no team success, he has been in the finest of form individually. A freak of nature throughout the regular season, both in the Champions League and LaLiga, but the main event that put him on the footballing map as the most clinical finisher in the world was the World Cup in the USA. 10 goals and 4 assists in 8 appearances, Mbappe registered at least one goal involvement in every game but the Semi-Final, when they were knocked out by the champions Spain. There has been a couple of hiccups in Real Madrid’s 25/26 season, with fans becoming mightily frustrated at the lack of silverware brought back to the Bernabeu, and many Madrid fans claimed despite his formidable goal scoring record, Mbappe’s role in the Real Madrid squad has been a negative. An ‘Mbappe Out’ petition was created online by Real Madrid fans, and it now sits with over 98 million signs, but of course most of them are rival fans that want to see Madrid lose their best player. Madrid fans must be more patient, and with Jose Mourinho back in office, I’m sure the glory all Madridistas expect will return. So, regardless of a few grumbles over the course of the season, there is no doubt that Mbappe is a complete lock in the Top 5. But overall to see him win it this year would be mightily surprising.
4. Michael Olise (Bayern Munich & France)
Individual stats: 65 appearances, 26 goals, 33 assists Awards/Trophies: Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal (German FA Cup equivalent), DFL-Supercup, Bundesliga Player of the Season
Another Frenchman is bound to make the Top 5 in most journalists and football fans’ opinion. Michael Olise is undoubtably one of the most entertaining footballers on the planet, with a handful of sublime goals and inch-perfect assists, as well as an array of mind-blowing skills in his locker. Olise was one of the key members of Bayern Munich’s successful season, winning the domestic treble without any real pressure from other sides. As the stats say above, 59 goals & assists in 65 appearances is nothing short of world class, and those goal contributions weren’t just against the lower standard of German football, but against the biggest teams/nations in the world, such as PSG, Real Madrid, and England. It is still slightly surprising why Olise is not overly keen to switch his nationality to British, as he was born and raised in Hammersmith & White City, and many French fans agree that his French speaking ability isn’t quite as slick as his footballing. But he was certainly not a passenger in this France squad that reached the Semi-Finals of the World Cup. Yes, Olise didn’t manage to get on the scoresheet, but he racked up 7 assists in 8 games, and with the likes of Mbappe and Dembele in front of him, it was hardly surprising he ended the tournament with so many assists. Looking at his success from a club point of view, it wouldn’t be at all controversial if Olise was crowned winner of the Ballon d’Or, but due to Spain winning the World Cup, the ending might not be as Olise would hope, but all the same a magnificent footballer with a great shout of winning.
3. Ousmane Dembele (Paris Saint-Germain & France)
Individual stats: 53 appearances, 27 goals, 13 assists Awards/Trophies: Ligue 1, Champions League, Coupe de France, (2024/25) Ballon d’Or
Breaking into the Top 3, it is near impossible to find any flaws in their individual seasons, and these three could be re-ordered in any way and it would be a fair result. Dembele once again took PSG to back-to-back Champions League wins, as well as the securing titles in the French league and Coupe de France (French equivalent of the FA Cup). However, Paris Saint-Germain hold such depth and quality in their squad that Dembele didn’t actually have the hugest of impact in the league phase, only starting 11 out of the 34 league games the champions played. But, in the Champions League Dembele was as clinical and influential as he was the season before, registering 8 goals and 2 assists in 13 appearances. So, when the regular season ended at the end of May and the attention of the rest of the world turned to the World Cup, Dembele would’ve very much fancied his chances of retaining the Ballon d’Or, and no one can deny that Dembele carried his weight in that tantalizing attacking line of France’s (Mbappe, Olise, Doue, Dembele). The PSG striker scored 6 goals in the United States, with a sublime hat-trick against Norway in their final game of the group stage. But, similar with Olise and Mbappe, Dembele’s dreams of a second World Cup win in his career were extinguished by Spain. So, is the likelihood of Ousmane Dembele winning a second Ballon d’Or much slimmer? Or will his heroics in the Champions League keep him as the favourite? Who knows, but if he does end up victorious, it will be hard for people to criticise the decision.
2. Lamine Yamal (Barcelona & Spain)
Individual Stats: 53 appearances, 25 goals, 20 assists Awards/Trophies: World Cup, LaLiga, Supercopa de Espana, LaLiga Player of the Season, Young Sportsman of the Year, AFE Award
For most football fans, Lamine Yamal is the world’s best. Despite being just 19, Lamine Yamal has consistently proven that he is the future of football, already accumulating 101 goals and assists for Barcelona in 156 appearances, and securing titles in the Euros, the World Cup, the LaLiga 3 times, the Copa del Rey, and the Supercopa de Espana twice all before his 19th birthday (except the World Cup as the final was the day after his birthday). Lamine suffered a couple of minor injuries last season, but that didn’t stop him from dazzling opponents in practically every single game. Being part of an attacking three of Raphinha and Robert Lewandowski meant it was almost inevitable that Yamal would have a brilliant season, and he certainly lived up to the expectation. Many football fans have argued in recent times that nothing is stopping Lamine Yamal from getting to the level that the likes of Messi and Ronaldo achieved in their careers, of course for now that is slightly farfetched as he still has 20 years of football to play, but if he keeps going on this formidable path of goals and glory (without sustaining any major injuries), he will certainly be up there as one of the greatest players of all time, and I’m sure a Ballon d’Or win at just 19 years old will not hurt his chances of being compared to Messi and Ronaldo in the future. A joy to watch, another brace for Spain yesterday vs Croatia, so Ballon d’Or winner or not, Lamine is clearly not here to sulk and strop, because the whole world knows he is capable of winning several golden balls.
Harry Kane (Bayern Munich & England)
Individual Stats: 66 appearances, 74 goals, 8 assists Awards/Trophies: Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal, European Golden Boot, DFL Supercup, Bundesliga Golden Boot
This might be one of the closest and most competitive Ballon d’Or selections for a while, any player mentioned could easily win it at the end of October, but for me and many other football fans, Harry Kane deserves the Ballon d’Or.
At 32, Kane produced one of the greatest individual seasons in modern football, scoring an incredible 73 goals and providing 8 assists in 65 appearances for Bayern Munich and England, making it the second-highest goalscoring season of the modern era, only behind Lionel Messi’s phenomenal 82 in 2011/12, whilst also beating Cristiano Ronaldo’s previous record of 69. Kane secured the Bundesliga for the second year running, won the DFB-Pokal for the first time, scored a hat-trick in the cup final, won his third consecutive Bundesliga Golden Boot with 36 goals, and finished with 14 goals in the Champions League, becoming the first Englishman to score in seven consecutive Champions League games.
But his brilliance wasn’t limited to club football, as Kane then carried his form into the World Cup, scoring 6 goals for England, including a brace against DR Congo and one of the goals of the tournament vs Norway, helping England reach their best World Cup finish since 1966.
Many football fans have argued that Kane has never received the individual recognition he deserves despite consistently being one of the best strikers in the world, and after a season where he has scored at a rate that only Messi has bettered since the turn of the millennium, it is difficult to see what more he could have done. From scoring 61 goals for Bayern, to producing when it mattered most in the DFB-Pokal final, to breaking Ronaldo’s 69-goal mark and then taking his incredible tally all the way to 73, Kane has had a season that very few players in football history can even compare to, and for me, there is no doubt that Harry Kane should be the Ballon d’Or winner.
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