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The Ballon d’Or ceremony heads to London on Monday as Harry Kane looks to make history in the capital.
England captain Harry Kane is the favorite to win the 2026 award, but Lamine Yamal and, more significantly, Kylian Mbappe remain in the race until the final hours.
Spain and Barcelona star Yamal was short favorites a few weeks ago, and remained within touching distance of Kane in the betting markets as recently as a few days ago, but now all the momentum is with France and Real Madrid star Mbappe.
So we asked the Standard Sport reporters who they thought will win the 2026 Ballon d’Or… and who should win.
Who will win the Ballon d’Or 2026?
Matt Verri, sports reporter
Who wins: Lamine Yamal
Who should win: Harry Kane
The good news is that the exhausting deep PR campaigns are finally over. The bad news for Harry Kane is that the Spanish clubs are treating this process as their own sport.
No one pressed Lamine Yamal’s case more than Lamine Yamal. There is every chance that the hype surrounding the teenager will distract from an indifferent World Cup due to injury. The most exciting player in the world may well get his wish.
The best player in the world last season should have won. Harry Kane has scored 73 goals, second only to Lionel Messi in terms of season goals.
Kane has scored in every knockout round of the Champions League, including both semi-finals against Paris Saint-Germain, and scored six goals in the World Cup. He tore up the Bundesliga and scored a hat-trick in a cup final.
The complete player deserves the ultimate recognition.
Dom Smith, sports reporter
Who should win: Harry Kane
It shouldn’t be any closer this year; it should be Kane’s prize at a gallop. But I think it will end up being a close thing – much closer than it should be.
I think that so often we forget what the Ballon d’Or is, and so do many of the candidates in their rambling interviews. It is not the best player on the planet. It is not the best player from last season until next October. It is the best player of the previous season, end of.
Clearly, it should be Kane. His 73 goals in a single campaign for club and country have only been bettered by one player in the modern history of football, Lionel Messi, and I feel Kane has done just enough to take home the award in London, albeit with far less than 50 per cent of the total vote.
It shouldn’t be any closer this year either. We know it will be because of Yamal’s PR campaign and Bayern and England’s failure to win the Champions League and the World Cup. But as the vote split proves, Kane is the only real winner. For an award that wants the best player of the previous season, he was the best player of the previous season.
Kylian Mbappe
Getty
Sam Tabuteau, sports reporter
Who wins: Kylian Mbappe
Who should win: Harry Kane
While I firmly believe Harry Kane should have won the Ballon d’Or, he didn’t play the game well enough, and his reluctance to promote himself will cost him.
Kylian Mbappe knows how important it is to vote on court, as does Lamine Yamal. Her press run in recent weeks has made the race for the Ballon d’Or much closer than it should be.
