Kylian Mbappé's Ballon d'Or Hopes Dim After World Cup Exit
Kylian Mbappé stormed through North America like a man on a mission, eight goals powering France to yet another crack at the biggest prize of all. For a few weeks, it felt as though the Ballon d’Or conversation had been dragged back in his direction by sheer force of will.
Then Spain happened.
France’s exit in the semi-finals has not only cut short another World Cup dream, it has also ripped away the platform Mbappé needed in a year when his club season failed to deliver the trophies that matter most to Ballon d’Or voters. Real Madrid, for all their weight and history, have now gone two straight seasons without a major honour. For a player judged by the harshest standards, that is a brutal line on the résumé.
At this level, numbers alone rarely win you the Golden Ball. You need medals. The biggest ones.
Mbappé’s brilliance, Messi’s leverage
On a personal level, Mbappé did almost everything. He scored heavily, he carried Madrid through long stretches of the season, and he looked every inch the Galáctico the club thought they were signing. Yet the rules of this particular game have never really changed: no Champions League, no World Cup, no Euros, no Ballon d’Or.
Jeremie Aliadière sees the writing on the wall. Speaking to GOAL in association with Betinia NJ, the former Arsenal and Middlesbrough forward did not dress it up when asked if Mbappé is set for more Ballon d’Or frustration.
He pointed out that with a “fantastic year in terms of winning something with Real Madrid”, Mbappé might still be firmly in the race. But without silverware in Madrid colours, the case weakens. The Frenchman highlighted how Mbappé’s “ridiculous amount of goals” and his role in “carrying the team for most part of the season” still fall short of the criteria voters cling to: Champions League, World Cup, Euros. You win one of those, you’re in business. You don’t, you’re chasing shadows.
Aliadière even extended that logic to Harry Kane. The England captain, like Mbappé, stacked up goals and influence, but without England going all the way, his own outside shot at the award evaporated. Same story, different shirt.
Messi, again, at the centre of it all
Which leaves the door open for a familiar figure.
Lionel Messi, at 39, has dragged Argentina to yet another World Cup final, matching Mbappé’s eight-goal haul at this tournament and once again standing on the brink of football’s summit. He is not just defending the crown he claimed in Qatar 2022; he is threatening to stretch the Ballon d’Or record into territory that may never be touched.
A ninth Golden Ball is on the table if he produces one more decisive performance against Spain. Aliadière believes the global audience will not be able to look past him if Argentina finish the job. He expects people to be “mesmerised by the age and what he's produced at the World Cup” and to effectively overlook the fact that Messi now plays his club football in MLS with Inter Miami.
That, too, is part of the story. Messi has not drifted into semi-retirement in North America. He has dominated it. The 2025 campaign saw him lift MLS Cup and collect MVP honours, adding domestic success to his international heroics. His club environment may no longer be Europe’s elite, but his influence remains suffocating.
England found that out the hard way. In a dramatic semi-final in Atlanta, Messi once again bent a game to his will, sending the Albiceleste into another final and pushing himself closer to yet another Golden Ball.
Ronaldo left behind, Messi still climbing
The Messi–Cristiano Ronaldo rivalry once framed every Ballon d’Or discussion. Now, it is increasingly a one-man race in the record books.
Former MLS midfielder and World Cup winner Kleberson, speaking to GOAL, captured that sense of inevitability around Messi’s candidacy. “Wow! That guy never stops!” he said, underlining his belief that Argentina, with Messi still operating at a high level, have more chance of winning the World Cup than any other nation.
Kleberson drew a clear line between Messi’s situation and Ronaldo’s. Ronaldo is still playing, still scoring, but the collective around him with Portugal does not mirror the structure and quality Argentina have built around their captain. For Messi, the environment is “purity” – a squad tuned to his rhythm, a team built to maximise his genius.
That, Kleberson argued, is why Messi has “a lot of chance” to take the award again. If he wins the World Cup, he sees it as “100 per cent” certain that Messi will be right at the front of the Ballon d’Or queue. Not just as a sentimental favourite, but as the outstanding player in the biggest games.
Even in Brazil, Kleberson insisted, players and fans recognise what they are watching. They want the Ballon d’Or and the World Cup to go to footballers who elevate the sport, who are “a joy to see play”. Messi, in his eyes, remains one of those rare figures.
So while Mbappé waits for his era to truly begin, and while Kane wonders what might have been, the sport stands on the brink of another familiar coronation. Messi, at 39, is still bending the narrative his way. The question now is simple: how many more times can he do it before anyone else manages to wrench the spotlight away?
