The Ballon d’Or winners will be announced on Monday with a new generation of soccer stars, led by Lamine Yamal and Kylian Mbappé, ready to stamp their name on the trophy that for so long was a personal duel between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
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that → announce → Messi
And while it feels like this is the start of the Yamal-Mbappé era, Harry Kane’s outrageous goalscoring exploits could yet push that rivalry back by another year.
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exploits → feel → year
The women’s award, won by Barcelona and Spain star Aitana Bonmati for the past three years, will go to someone else this time around.
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award → win → someone
Bonmati is not on the shortlist after breaking her leg in December.
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Bonmati → break → December
Two-time winner Alexia Putellas is the favorite to lift the trophy for a third time.
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Putellas → lift → time
The ceremony will be staged at the London Palladium on Monday Oct. 26, at 2000 GMT.
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ceremony → stag → GMT
The favorites to win the Ballon d’Or
Of the 30-man shortlist for the men’s award, four names have dominated the conversation.
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names → win → conversation
Yamal was named the best young player for the last two years and after helping Spain to the World Cup and Barcelona to the Spanish title, he looks well-placed to win his first Ballon d’Or.
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he → name → d’Or
Mbappé was long-expected to be confirmed the best player in the world before now, having won the 2018 World Cup at the age of 19.
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Mbappé → expect → 19
But, if anything, he has been slipping down the Ballon d’Or rankings, coming seventh last year.
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he → slip → rankings
He had an outstanding season individually last term, even becoming the highest scorer in World Cup history, but did not lead Real Madrid or France to trophies.
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He → have → trophies
That could work against him.
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That → work → him
The opposite is true of Kane, who has been breaking goalscoring records in Germany and winning titles with Bayern Munich.
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who → break → Munich
He was also one of the top performers at the World Cup as England finished third.
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England → finish → Cup
Messi just won’t go away
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Messi → go → ?
Many might have expected Messi to leave the Ballon d’Or conversation after moving to MLS and Inter Miami.
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Messi → expect → MLS
, but the Argentine, who is widely regarded as the greatest player of all time, clearly had other ideas.
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who → regard → ideas
He inspired Miami to its first MLS Cup last season and then rolled back the years to drive Argentina to within one win of back-to-back World Cups.
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He → inspire → Cups
Ultimately Argentina came up short in the final against Spain, but the tournament was undoubtedly lit up by Messi’s brilliance once again.
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tournament → come → brilliance
Putellas back on top
Putellas is favorite to win the women’s award after returning to her best to win the Champions League and Spanish title with Barcelona before joining London City Lionesses.
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Putellas → win → Lionesses
The Spain star, who suffered ligament damage and watched as Bonmati overtook her as the best female soccer player in the world, can confirm her return to the summit of the sport by lifting the trophy again, albeit in the absence of the injured Bonmati.
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Bonmati → suffer → Bonmati
Leading contenders include Manchester City’s Khadija Shaw and Barcelona’s Claudia Pina.
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contenders → lead → Shaw
How the Ballon d’Or is judged
Ultimately it is a matter of opinion — voted for by one journalist from each of FIFA’s top 100-ranked nations.
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it → judge → nations
The criteria include individual and team performances, “decisive and impressive character” and “class and fair play.”
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criteria → include → performances
Each journalist picks 10 names from the 30 nominees in descending order, with each position scored on a basis of 15 points for the top choice and one for the 10th.
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position → pick → 10th
The player with the highest number of points is awarded the Ballon d’Or.
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player → award → d’Or
Tiebreakers include the number of first-place mentions, then second-place mentions and so on.
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Tiebreakers → include → mentions
Kane’s flying start won’t help him
Kane just can’t stop scoring and the records keep on falling.
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records → help → him
Last month he became the fastest player to reach 100 Bundesliga goals, reaching that landmark in just 98 appearances.
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he → become → appearances
Such outstanding form at the start of the season have only seemed to confirmed his march toward the Ballon d’Or.
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form → seem → d’Or
There’s just one problem — the judging period ended after the World Cup.
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period → ’ → Cup
The official judging dates from Aug. 3, 2025 to July 19, 2026.
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judging → date → July
Sure Kane’s numbers and his trophies over that period have already put him well in the frame to lift the award, but if the start of this campaign had been included as well, his case to be called the best player in the world would have been even stronger.
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case → put → world
Messi holds the record with eight wins, his most recent coming in 2023.
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recent → hold → 2023
Michel Platini, Johan Cruyff and Marco van Basten have three each.
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Platini → have → three
It’s not just about the Ballon d’Or
Also presented at the ceremony are awards for the men’s and women’s young talent, goalkeeper, coach, club and striker.
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awards → ’ → talent
The Aporia
