Kylian Mbappé's Ballon d'Or Quest: Triumphs and Setbacks

Kylian Mbappé went to North America hunting a crown and came back with a question mark.

Eight goals, a semi-final, a tournament lit up by his bursts of acceleration and ruthless finishing – for a moment it felt like the Real Madrid forward had kicked the Ballon d’Or door clean off its hinges. He looked every inch the Galáctico who bends the individual awards to his will.

Then Spain happened. France were out, the World Cup dream gone, and with it a huge slice of his Ballon d’Or leverage.

At club level, the story has been just as unforgiving. Two seasons at Real Madrid, two seasons without a major trophy. For a player of Mbappé’s stature, that is not just a footnote. It is a problem.

Mbappé’s brilliance, Ballon d’Or’s brutal logic

No one is questioning the Frenchman’s numbers. He scored heavily, dragged Madrid through long stretches of the 2025-26 campaign and often looked like the only man capable of tilting games in their favour. On a purely individual level, he delivered.

Jeremie Aliadière, speaking to GOAL in association with Betinia NJ, did not pretend otherwise. He recognised the “ridiculous amount of goals” and the way Mbappé “carried the team for most part of the season”.

But the Ballon d’Or is rarely a reward for lonely excellence.

“You've got to win, Champions League or World Cup or Euros,” Aliadière said, laying out the cold criteria that have shaped the award in the modern era. Mbappé did none of that. Nor did Harry Kane, whose own candidacy evaporated when England fell short on the international stage.

So the Frenchman’s season, outstanding as it was, runs into the same wall: no medals of the right kind, no golden trophy in Paris.

And as Mbappé’s case weakens, another familiar figure strides back into the spotlight.

Messi, again

Lionel Messi is 39. He should be winding down, easing into the final act. Instead, he is back where he has spent most of his career: at the centre of the game’s biggest argument.

He has taken Argentina to yet another World Cup final, matching Mbappé’s tally of eight goals at the tournament and once again operating as the Albiceleste’s reference point, conductor and closer. The defending champion from Qatar 2022 now stands one game away from back‑to‑back titles.

Beat Spain. Deliver one more decisive performance on the grandest stage. A ninth Ballon d’Or suddenly stops sounding fanciful and starts to feel inevitable.

Aliadière can see where this is heading. “I think it’ll probably be one of Argentina,” he admitted, before pointing at the magnetism of Messi’s story – the age, the stage, the weight of his influence. If the No.10 lifts the World Cup again, the narrative almost writes itself.

“I think everybody's just going to be mesmerised by the age and what he's produced at the World Cup,” Aliadière said, fully aware that the glow of those nights will make many forget that Messi now plays his club football in MLS with Inter Miami.

MLS titles, MVP form and no sign of slowing

Messi’s domestic season in North America has not been a quiet sabbatical. He has taken Inter Miami to MLS Cup glory and collected MVP honours along the way, turning a still-developing franchise into a trophy winner and a weekly spectacle.

The legs may not move as they did at Barcelona, but the mind and the left foot remain a step ahead. He still decides games, still bends matches to his rhythm, still finds the decisive pass or finish when the air gets thin.

On the international front, he has been just as ruthless. England learned that the hard way in Atlanta, undone in a dramatic semi-final that again showcased Messi’s capacity to shape defining moments rather than simply participate in them.

Another Golden Ball for best player at the World Cup is firmly in play. So is the award that comes with a tuxedo and a golden sphere.

“That guy never stops”

Former Brazil midfielder and World Cup winner Kleberson has watched this late‑career surge with the same mix of disbelief and admiration as everyone else.

“Wow! That guy never stops!” he told GOAL when asked if Messi can claim yet another Ballon d’Or and move four clear of Cristiano Ronaldo. For Kleberson, the calculation is simple: Argentina’s chances of lifting the World Cup are higher “with Messi than any other country” has with its star man, because the No.10 is still operating “at a good level”.

The comparison with Ronaldo is unavoidable. Both remain icons, both still score, both still command attention. But Kleberson highlighted a crucial difference: the environment.

Ronaldo no longer enjoys the same supporting cast at international level. Messi, by contrast, is surrounded by a cohesive, hungry Argentina side that amplifies his strengths and shares his burden. “It’s purity,” Kleberson said of the connection between Messi and his teammates, drawing a line between the quality and chemistry around the two great rivals.

That, in his eyes, is why Messi “has a lot of chance” to extend his lead in the Ballon d’Or duel. If Argentina win the World Cup again, Kleberson is unequivocal: “100 per cent he’s going to be up to win the Ballon d’Or again.”

The respect runs deep. Even in Brazil, where footballing pride is fierce and rivalry with Argentina is ingrained, there is an acknowledgement of what Messi represents. Kleberson spoke of Brazilian players and fans who “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.”

The shifting landscape

So the picture is stark.

Mbappé, the face of Real Madrid and the man many expected to dominate this era, has delivered the goals but not the glittering trophies the Ballon d’Or voters crave. Kane, another striker with a compelling personal record, has watched his chance evaporate with England’s exit.

Messi, at 39, stands on the brink of another World Cup, another Golden Ball, another Ballon d’Or. He has already claimed MLS Cup and MVP honours, still dictates games for his country and continues to bend football’s biggest narratives around his orbit.

The award that once looked destined to become Mbappé’s era-defining possession might, once again, be heading towards the same hands that have held it more than any other.

If Messi climbs that stage for a ninth time, the question will not be about what comes next for him.

It will be this: how long can the heirs to his throne afford to wait?