Kane, Mbappé or Yamal? Ballon d'Or debate heats up before London ceremony
- Harry Kane is the bookmakers' favourite for the 2026 Ballon d'Or, with the ceremony set for London on 26 October.
- Declan Rice called Kane the clear winner, while Thibaut Courtois backed Kylian Mbappé as the year's best individual player.
- A Bayern Munich social media post featuring Kane sparked rumours, but there is no confirmation he has won.
The 2026 Ballon d'Or will be handed out in London on Monday, 26 October, and the debate over who deserves it is now being argued in public by the players themselves.
Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane is the bookmakers' favourite. The England captain scored 73 goals for club and country in the 2025-26 season, helped Bayern win the Bundesliga and played a key role as England finished third at the World Cup, according to Punch.
His main challengers are expected to be Barcelona teenager Lamine Yamal and Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappé.
Team-mates and rivals make their case
Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice, Kane's England team-mate, did not hide his view after Arsenal's 2-2 draw with Bayern in the Champions League on Wednesday night. Both Rice and Kane scored in that match.
"For me, Harry is the clear winner of the Ballon d'Or 2026," Rice told footballontnt. "His numbers speak for themselves."
Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois took a different view. Speaking to DAZN, he said no player performed better individually than Mbappé this year, but admitted the Frenchman won no trophies in the period under review.
"Individually, no player was better than him this year, but sadly, we didn't win any trophies," Courtois said. He added that Yamal had a worse World Cup than Mbappé but won titles with Barcelona.
The exchange sums up the question voters face: should individual brilliance outweigh team silverware?
The Bayern post that set social media alight
Bayern Munich added fuel to the speculation this week with a post on X showing Kane in a black suit seated inside a large spherical structure, captioned "it's almost Showtime."
Some fans read it as a hint that Kane had already been told he won. PM News reported there is no confirmed evidence of that, and that the image appears linked to promotional material for the Champions League match against Arsenal.
PM News also reported, citing German outlets Sport1 and Abendzeitung, that the photo dates back to August 2023, when Bayern unveiled Kane after his move from Tottenham, and was shot at a Munich cinema.
If Kane wins, he would be the first English player to take the award since Michael Owen in 2001. This year's ceremony at the London Palladium is the first held outside Paris.
What happens next: Voting closed nearly a month before the ceremony, according to Legit.ng. The winner will be announced at the London Palladium on Monday, 26 October.
