Monday night in London, football’s most famous individual prize finds a home — and for once, an Englishman is the man to beat. The 70th Ballon d’Or ceremony lands in the British capital for the first time, and England captain Harry Kane heads a genuinely wide-open race against Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal and Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappé.
Why Kane Leads the Race
The numbers are absurd even by Kane’s standards: 73 goals in 65 games for club and country last season, a league and cup double with Bayern Munich, and a run to the World Cup semi-finals with England. “I’d love to be able to achieve something like that. It would be a massive milestone in my career,” the 33-year-old said ahead of the ceremony. The caveat keeping him humble: semi-final exits in both the Champions League and the World Cup — the kind of near-miss that has decided tight Ballon d’Or races before. His family, he admits, finds the suspense worse than he does.
The Challenger: Yamal’s Confidence vs His Calendar
Lamine Yamal finished second to Ousmane Dembélé last year and remains, at 19, the sport’s presumptive future winner. The complication: a hamstring injury ended his club season early, and while Spain lifted the World Cup as the tournament’s best collective, it was his Barcelona team-mates Rodri and Pau Cubarsí who took the player and young player awards. Yamal’s self-belief is untouched. “For me, Mbappé and me, we’re the two best players in the world,” he said last month. “This year I would deserve it because of what I’ve won.”
The Record-Setter: Mbappé’s Case
Mbappé’s season is the stats-machine argument: top scorer in La Liga, the Champions League and the World Cup — without winning any of the three. His ten goals in the tournament made him the World Cup’s all-time top scorer on 22, past every legend who ever played the competition. “Who am I voting for? Myself,” the 27-year-old shrugged, and he is not entirely joking: the all-time record is the kind of line that lives on a ballot forever.
How the Voting Works
One journalist from each of FIFA’s top 100 ranked nations votes for a top 10 from a 30-man shortlist, allocating up to 15 points to their first pick down to one. Most points wins the trophy — and while there is no cash prize, the bonuses and marketing value that follow the award are sizeable. In the women’s award, Spain’s Alexia Putellas is the frontrunner for a third title after Barcelona reclaimed the Champions League, with her former team-mate Ewa Pajor — 11 goals in that campaign — the main challenger as Aitana Bonmatí’s three-year reign ends.
Final Word
Nigerian interest? The award is European football’s night, but the ripple lands here: the winner’s shadow stretches over every transfer window our players chase, from the reigning champion Dembélé’s own coronation last year to the Super Eagles stars fighting for their own global stage, starting with the Eagles’ friendly win over Iran. Monday, London, one golden ball — three arguments, one verdict.
