Mbappé’s Ballon d’Or Frustration Amid Messi’s Brilliance
Kylian Mbappé arrived in North America looking every inch the new face of the footballing universe. Eight goals, a trail of defenders left in his wake, and France driven all the way to another World Cup semi-final. For a while, it felt like the Ballon d’Or conversation might finally bend his way.
Then Spain slammed the door.
That semi-final defeat has done more than end a World Cup dream. It has undercut the narrative Mbappé needed. At club level, the story is no kinder: a second straight season at Real Madrid without a major trophy in 2025-26. For a player of his stature, the numbers are breathtaking, the impact undeniable, but the honours board remains stubbornly bare.
And when it comes to the Ballon d’Or, everyone knows the rules.
Mbappé’s brilliance, without the prizes
Jeremie Aliadière has watched Mbappé closely. The former France international, speaking to GOAL in association with Betinia NJ, didn’t sugar-coat the reality when asked if Mbappé is set for more Ballon d’Or frustration.
“Yeah, I think so,” he admitted. Had Mbappé crowned his first season at Real Madrid with silverware, the equation might look different. A Champions League trophy, a La Liga title, something to anchor the argument. Instead, Madrid’s season ended in disappointment again, and with it, Mbappé’s claim to the game’s most prestigious individual prize has weakened.
Aliadière was quick to stress the paradox at the heart of Mbappé’s year. On a personal level, the Frenchman delivered. He “scored a ridiculous amount of goals and carried the team for most part of the season”. He was the constant, the reference point, the man opponents feared most. By any individual metric, it was a magnificent campaign.
But Ballon d’Or voters rarely reward individual excellence in isolation. “Without winning any trophies we know the rules to be a Ballon d'Or,” Aliadière said. “You've got to win, Champions League or World Cup or Euros.” Mbappé has done none of that this year. And in this era, numbers alone don’t cut it.
Harry Kane knows that feeling too. Aliadière pointed to the England captain as another casualty of the same ruthless logic. Had England gone all the way, Kane’s case might have been irresistible. Instead, like Mbappé, he is left with goals, performances, admiration – but no defining trophy.
Messi, again, at the centre of it all
Into that vacuum steps a familiar figure.
Lionel Messi, at 39, has dragged Argentina to yet another World Cup final, scoring eight times along the way. He is not easing out of the spotlight; he is storming back into its centre. The Albiceleste are one win away from defending the title they claimed in Qatar 2022, and Messi is once more the conductor, the finisher, the reference point for everything they do.
A ninth Ballon d’Or is suddenly not a romantic fantasy but a very real possibility. One more decisive display against Spain, one more night where he bends a major final to his will, and that Golden Ball could be heading his way yet again.
Aliadière can see the tide turning. “I think it’ll probably be one of Argentina,” he said. If Messi lifts the World Cup again, the reaction will be instant and overwhelming. “If he wins it again, I think everybody's just going to be mesmerised by the age and what he's produced at the World Cup and forget that he plays in MLS for Inter Miami.”
That last point is crucial. Messi is not doing this from the heart of Europe’s elite. He is doing it while playing his club football in MLS, a league still fighting for full respect on the global stage. And yet his 2025 campaign in North America has been anything but a quiet retirement tour.
Messi has already collected MLS Cup and MVP honours with Inter Miami. He has turned a project into a powerhouse, a franchise into a global talking point. Then he has flown back to national-team duty and produced more of the same. England felt that first-hand in Atlanta, where Messi helped send them home in a wild, dramatic semi-final.
At 39, he is supposed to be fading. Instead, he is stacking arguments.
A gap to Ronaldo, and a gulf to the rest
Former MLS star and World Cup winner Kleberson has seen enough to believe the story is far from over. Speaking to GOAL, he was asked whether Messi could win yet another Ballon d’Or and pull four clear of Cristiano Ronaldo.
“Wow! That guy never stops!” he said, a line that could double as the tagline for Messi’s late-career renaissance. For Kleberson, Argentina’s chances at the World Cup still orbit around their No.10. “Argentina has more chance of winning the World Cup with Messi than any other country, just because Messi is still playing at a good level.”
The contrast with Ronaldo is stark in his eyes. Ronaldo remains a formidable presence, but Kleberson highlighted the difference in context. “He is still playing at a level, but the players around Ronaldo, it’s not the same as Messi has with Argentina. It’s purity. What Portuguese players have and Argentine players have is completely different. That’s why Messi has a lot of chance.”
The equation is simple to him: “If he goes and wins the World Cup, 100 per cent he’s going to be up to win the Ballon d’Or again.” The admiration crosses borders and rivalries. “Even Brazilian players and fans look at him and want to see good players win the Ballon d’Or and the World Cup - players that are a joy to see play. Messi is one of those.”
That is the landscape Mbappé is staring at. His own numbers are monstrous, his performances often irresistible, but the game’s biggest individual award still bends toward those who marry brilliance with the biggest prizes. Right now, that path runs through Argentina, through Messi, and through one more World Cup final.
If the Ballon d’Or is still about the defining story of a season, Mbappé’s remains incomplete. Messi’s, astonishingly, is still being written.
