Sport
Could Kylian Mbappe win the Ballon d’Or this year?
When Kylian Mbappe became the youngest World Cup final goalscorer since Pele at Russia 2018, it felt inconceivable he would make it to the age of 27 without winning a Ballon d’Or.
Yet, eight years on, the France star is still waiting for the award. Finally, though, he can start to believe that 2026 may be his year.
Over the best part of two decades, the requirements to win the Ballon d’Or have fundamentally shifted. With Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo dominating the award for most of that time, splitting them became difficult. Mostly, it went to the player who had won the most trophies, with the Champions League proving particularly critical.
Yet, Mbappe didn’t win the Champions League with Real Madrid. In a World Cup year, when France reached the semi-finals and were knocked out by eventual winners Spain, surely that is another blow to his chances.
So why should he feel confident? For the first time in perhaps a generation, it is hard to look at either the Champions League winners in Paris Saint-Germain or the Spanish national team and pick out one player from either side who truly deserved the award more than Mbappe, or potentially others on the list of nominees.
The last two winners, Rodri and Ousmane Dembele, are potential options but it is hard to make a case for either. Rodri, while the Player of the Tournament at the World Cup and key man for Spain, has struggled for fitness all year, while Dembele played support to Mbappe in the France side and didn’t drive PSG in the way he did before.
Georgian winger Kvicha Kvaratskhelia is fancied by many after his big season in Paris, but it would be hard to make a case his overall impact its greater than Mbappe’s has been over the past 12 months. For starters, Kvaratskhelia scored 19 goals in all competitions compared to Mbappe’s 42 at club level, before even considering his Golden Boot-winning 10 for France over the summer.
None of PSG’s seven nominees played over 50% of league minutes last season. Was Kvaratskhelia honestly the difference in their success? It would be hard to argue on raw data alone. They are simply the best team and that collective took them all the way; he was undoubtedly a crucial component, but this is an individual award.
Before Madrid’s Champions League opener at home to Inter on Tuesday, a game he also scored in, Mbappe said he senses he could win the award at long last this year.
“I think when you play for Real Madrid, the best club in the world, people associate you with this award,” he said.
“There are many people that speak about me and the Ballon d’Or. Of course I’ve made history in the most important competition. Maybe it’s a good year for this but people can vote according to what they think.”
He added: “I always think I’m the best [player in the world] but everyone has their own opinion.
“I think when you play for Real Madrid, the best club in the world, people associate you with this award,” he said.
“There are many people that speak about me and the Ballon d’Or. Of course I’ve made history in the most important competition. Maybe it’s a good year for this but people can vote according to what they think.”
He added: “I always think I’m the best [player in the world] but everyone has their own opinion.”
Goals aren’t everything in football and they certainly shouldn’t be the only factor in deciding the Ballon d’Or. But at the rate Mbappe has scored them, they can’t be ignored either. Harry Kane can lay as much claim to the award this season having netted 61 times for Bayern before a critical role in England reaching the last four in the summer, too.
It is hard to make a claim for any other player to win the Ballon d’Or this season. Mbappe has been widely regarded as the best player in the world for some time, but has lacked the big moments which usually sway the voting. With those moments belonging to lesser candidates, now may be the time to crown the best player because they are simply the best player. He deserves it.
