Kane, Yamal or Mbappé: the Ballon d'Or ballot closed on 28 September. Monday names the winner.
The 70th Ballon d'Or is handed out on Monday in London, with the ballot already closed and Kane, Yamal and Mbappé each carrying a different case.
On Monday the Ballon d'Or is handed out at the London Palladium: the 70th edition, and the first time the ceremony has been held outside Paris. 1
The vote is already in. The ballot closed on 28 September, and the season it judged ran to the World Cup final on 19 July. 12
It is listed for 8pm in London, 3pm ET and noon PT, streamed free on DAZN and on ballondor.com. 1
How the winner was chosen
France Football and L'Équipe draw up the 30-man shortlist. 3
One journalist from each of the top 100 FIFA-ranked nations then ranks ten of those names, from 15 points down to 1. 3 A tie goes to whoever collected more first-place votes. 3
Three cases, one gold ball
| Candidate | His season | His World Cup | The argument against |
|---|---|---|---|
| Harry Kane, Bayern Munich | 73 goals for club and country, second only to Messi's 82 in 2011-12, and a Bundesliga and German Cup double 4 | No goal after the round of 16 2 | England did not win it 2 |
| Lamine Yamal, Barcelona | A La Liga title 2 | World champion with Spain 2 | One goal and no assists all tournament 2 |
| Kylian Mbappé, Real Madrid | Nothing won 2 | The Golden Boot, 10 goals, and the World Cup scoring record 2 | No team trophy 2 |
Three men, three arguments, no shared measure: goals without a World Cup, a World Cup without the goals, a record without a trophy.
Prediction markets have settled on the same three: Kane at about two chances in three, Yamal near 28%, and the rest split between Mbappé and Messi. 5
Messi is the awkward name on the list. He is 39, he plays for Inter Miami, and he took five man-of-the-match awards at the World Cup, more than anyone. 56
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia makes the opposite case: a PSG winger whose country, Georgia, did not qualify at all. 5
What Monday would change
For Yamal, 19, it would mean the youngest winner in the award's history. 2
For Kane it would mean the first English winner since Michael Owen in 2001; he has never finished above 10th. 4
No goalkeeper made the 30-man list for the main prize, so Lev Yashin, in 1963, remains the only one to have won it. 7 PSG, the club of the outgoing winner Ousmane Dembélé, supply ten of the thirty. 7
Quote of the Day
"You don't give [the Ballon d'Or] to ordinary players. You give it to players who are different. I think I did things that were different this year, so I believe I can win it." — Kylian Mbappé, to France Football 2
References
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