Lamine Yamal or Kylian Mbappe: Who Really Deserves the Ballon d’Or?

This year, more than any before, feels like one where the Ballon d’Or will be fought for not only on the pitch but in the press.

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With lots of very credible candidates rather than one blindingly obvious outstanding choice, several of this year’s nominees for soccer’s top individual prize have taken to campaigning for the award as it were political office.

No one is hitting the campaign trail harder than Kylian Mbappé and Lamine Yamal. The former made his case in a long interview with France Football-originator of the Ballon d’Or-in which he described his own accomplishments in 2025–26 as “breathtaking” and called on voters to look at individual exceptionalism over trophy haul.

Meanwhile, Lamine-last year’s runner-up-has insisted that actually he “deserves” the trophy, while telling Movistar+ that he and Mbappé are the two best in the world and “everyone who watches the games knows it.”

Most oddsmakers have very little between Mbappé and Lamine, with both among the favorites for the prize, which will be handed out at a gala ceremony in London on Oct. 26.

But, beyond the soundbites and PR whose case is more compelling?

Goals and Assists

The Ballon d’Or-with the exception of Rodri and Luka Modrić-has been dominated by forwards over the last two decades and if you want to judge forwards, the easiest metric is goal involvements-even if it can be a little reductive.

No-one scored more than Mbappé in La Liga (25) or the Champions League (15) last season, while the Frenchman also top-scored in the World Cup, with his 10 strikes in North America taking him to 22 overall and making him the competition’s all-time leading goalscorer.

All in all, Mbappé ended the 2025–26 season with a whopping 58 goals for Real Madrid and France combined, plus another 13 assists-a staggering total of 71 goal involvements in 60 matches.

Lamine Yamal, by contrast, scored 16 in La Liga en route to Barcelona’s title, as well as six in the Champions League and two in the Copa del Rey. While he “only” totaled 25 goals for club and country, his creative record is far superior to Mbappé’s, with the Barça and Spain star laying on 20 assists in total, while he also created the most chances of any player in Europe’s big five leagues.

All in all, the teenager banked 45 goal involvements in 57 matches.

It should be noted that neither player comes close to Harry Kane’s tally of 81.

Winner: Kylian Mbappé

Trophy Haul

As much as it is an individual award, you have to go all the way back to 2013 to find a year where the winner (Cristiano Ronaldo) didn’t lift some form of team silverware.

Mbappé will hope to be the first since the Portuguese superstar to get his hands on the prize without having first got his hands on any other prizes in the same year.

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Real Madrid blanked in all competitions in 2025–26 as Barcelona ran away with La Liga, and Bayern Munich proved their undoing in Europe. At the World Cup, it was a similar story for Mbappé who was unable to prevent a semifinal exit at the hands of Spain.

It was a much more fruitful year for Yamal, who, of course, spearheaded Barça’s La Liga glory and was a key player for Luis de la Fuente’s Spain at the World Cup.

Not that it will swing many extra votes, but the 19-year-old did also win the Supercopa de España back in January as well, beating Mbappé’s Madrid in the final.

Winner: Lamine Yamal

Impact and Legacy

“You cannot give the Ballon d’Or to a player simply because he won the Champions League or the World Cup,” José Mourinho said when asked who should win this year’s award. “The Ballon d’Or should go to one of those players who, when they retire, will be missed forever.”

It’s a fair sentiment. We have team awards for team success and top scorer awards for the best finishers, but the Ballon d’Or really ought to recognize those more intangible and indefinable elements of soccer.

When all is said and done, who was the player who left the biggest impact on the year? And who was the most fun to watch?

Mbappé delivered consistently for Madrid throughout the year with his goals and is a striker like almost no other in the game. His World Cup record has rewritten the history books, but debate will continue until the end of time as to whether Los Blancos and France failed him, or his unwillingness to track back failed them.

Yamal possibly lacks the single big-game moment for voters to hang their hats on, but he was consistent across the year, earning La Liga’s Player of the Season prize for his artistry as much as his output. Had he arrived at the World Cup fully fit and scored more than once in the eight games in North America, when the eyes of the world were on him, he would’ve been a shoo-in for the Ballon d’Or.

There is a sense that there are still better years to come from the teenager.

Winner: Lamine Yamal

This article was originally published on www.si.com as Lamine Yamal or Kylian Mbappe: Who Really Deserves the Ballon d’Or?.

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This story was originally published September 14, 2026 at 7:45 AM.