The Ballon d'Or is always a personal award heavily influenced by collective titles. For many years, players who help their teams conquer the Champions League, World Cup or EURO often have an advantage in the race. Last year, Ousmane Dembele won the championship after making a great contribution to PSG winning the Champions League for the first time.
However, the 2026 World Cup has changed the situation. The weight of the biggest tournament on the planet makes the performance of the stars in the national team jersey a key factor, creating a particularly attractive competition between Lionel Messi, Rodri, Lamine Yamal, Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappe.
Harry Kane closed the season with an impressive scoring record in Bayern Munich's colors, contributing to helping "Bayern" win a domestic double. The English striker also scored 6 goals at the World Cup, but England stopping in the semi-finals significantly reduced his chances of competing for the Ballon d'Or. Although still possessing an excellent scoring season with a total of 73 goals, Kane lacks a major title at the national team level to create a decisive advantage.
Lamine Yamal continues to prove himself to be the most promising young talent in world football. After the EURO championship, the Barcelona player and Spain stepped onto the World Cup throne when he was not yet 20 years old. Although only scoring one goal at the tournament, Yamal still made a big impact with his ability to create breakthroughs, dribbling and making important contributions to La Roja's championship journey.
Lionel Messi is still one of the strongest candidates. At the age of 39, the Argentine superstar continues to amaze fans with his peak form. He opened the World Cup with a hat-trick against Algeria, scoring in 5 consecutive matches before making a great contribution to bringing Argentina to the final. Although unable to defend the championship after the defeat against Spain, Messi still had an excellent World Cup and continued to prove the class of the greatest player of the generation.
Kylian Mbappe also left his mark with the World Cup top scorer title for the second time in his career, and also became the top scorer in the history of the tournament. However, France only finishing fourth with Real Madrid's empty season significantly affected the French striker's chances of winning the Ballon d'Or. As Mbappe himself admitted, personal records would be more meaningful if accompanied by a team title.
Meanwhile, Rodri emerged as Messi's most formidable opponent. After a period of interruption due to injury at club level, the Manchester City midfielder has strongly returned in the Spanish shirt. He is the soul of the midfield with his ability to regulate, control the game and distribute the ball excellently. Rodri made 122 cross-line passes in 8 matches, the most since Xabi Alonso at the 2010 World Cup, thereby affirming his position as one of the most complete midfielders in the world.
As the football year gradually closes, the 2026 Ballon d'Or race is still unsolved. Messi owns an excellent World Cup at the age of 39, Rodri is the core in Spain's championship, and Yamal affirms the position of a future star. This promises to create one of the most attractive and unpredictable elections in recent years.
