Debate intensifies around the 2026 Ballon d’Or in London

Two days before the 2026 Ballon d’Or, which will take place Monday evening in London, the press is wondering about Ousmane Dembélé's successor. Laure Boulleau, consultant for Canal+, says that Kylian Mbappé deserves the award, even though no candidate meets all the criteria of the magazine France Football.

The ceremony will be held Monday evening in London, at the London Palladium, in 48 hours. Observers name Lamine Yamal, Harry Kane, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Rodri among the contenders, but none fully satisfies the magazine France Football's criteria. The vote will be cast by the magazine's journalists.

“Honestly, I think it’s Kylian Mbappé,” says Laure Boulleau. She notes that the player is the top scorer in the history of the World Cup, the competition, the Champions League and La Liga. “He has blown everything away,” she adds.

At twenty‑seven years old, the captain of Les Bleus would become the seventh Frenchman to win the trophy, after Raymond Kopa (1958), Michel Platini (1983‑1985), Jean‑Pierre Papin (1991), Zinédine Zidane (1998), Karim Benzema (2022) and Ousmane Dembélé (2025).