Ballon d'Or 2026 predictions: Who will be crowned the world's best footballer?
All eyes will turn to London on Monday evening when the 2026 Ballon d'Or winner will be announced. Paris Saint-Germain attacker Ousmanne Dembele took the honours last year with the Frenchman finishing ahead of Barcelona's Lamine Yamal, who was second, and third-placed Vitinha, also of Uefa Champions League winners PSG. The women's prize was claimed by Barcelona's Aitana Bonmati for the third year…
The 2026 Ballon d'Or winner will be decided during a ceremony at the London Palladium. Paris Saint-Germain attacker Ousmane Dembele was last year's winner, followed by Barcelona's Lamine Yamal and Vitinha. Now, we provide our predictions for the 2026 awards.
The men's top prize is pitted between Harry Kane of Bayern Munich and England, Lamine Yamal of Barcelona, and Kylian Mbappé of Real Madrid and France. Kane's England helped them finish third in the World Cup, while he scored 61 goals in 51 games for Bayern Munich to win the domestic double. Yamal, at just 19, provided 24 goals and 18 assists for Barcelona, helping the club retain the La Liga title.
Mbappé scored 42 goals in 44 appearances for Real Madrid, securing the Spanish Golden Boot and the World Cup Golden Boot with 10 goals.
In the women's category, Barcelona's Aitana Bonmati is favored to win her third Ballon d'Or. Barcelona's Ewa Pajor and England's Khadija Shaw are also strong contenders with impressive goal-scoring records. In the under-21 male category, Lamine Yamal is expected to win his second consecutive Kopa Trophy. The women's under-21 Kopa Trophy is predicted to go to Barcelona's Vicky Lopez for her remarkable performance.
Lastly, David Raya of Arsenal is favored to win the Yashin Trophy for the third consecutive year, aided by his impressive 19 clean sheets in the Premier League and Champions League.
Written by urgent.news from The National UAE's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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