Ballon d'Or Race: Rodri, Kane, and Kvaratskhelia in the Spotlight

In World Cup years, the unofficial crown of “best player on the planet” usually lands on the head of a man holding a global trophy. Spain’s triumph on North American soil has tilted that axis again, dragging two familiar names straight into the glare: Rodri, the 2024 Ballon d’Or winner, and his new Barcelona teammate Lamine Yamal.

Both have the medals. Both have the narrative. Both will feel the race is there to be taken.

Harry Kane is in that conversation too, whether people like it or not. Sixty-one goals for Bayern as they stormed to another Bundesliga title is a number that simply refuses to be ignored. Yet the defining image of his season is not a trophy lift in Europe. Bayern fell short in the 2026 Champions League, and that gap on his CV still weighs heavily when ballots are cast.

The European stage, though, has belonged to Paris.

Paris power, but a different French name

Paris Saint-Germain went back-to-back in the Champions League, a statement of dominance that usually feeds directly into the Ballon d’Or debate. Ousmane Dembele has the platform to chase individual glory off the back of that, and any one of his gifted teammates at Parc des Princes could ride the same wave.

Bacary Sagna, though, sees the spotlight landing elsewhere.

The former Arsenal, Manchester City and France defender, speaking to GOAL in association with BetVictor Online Casino, did not automatically anoint Kylian Mbappe as the outstanding candidate for the Golden Ball, even while acknowledging his brilliance.

“For me the best at the minute, he's in the top three. He had an amazing year and he is for me one of the best,” Sagna said, before adding a crucial nuance. “But being a striker gives more chances to score, so more chances for the people to look at him favourably.”

Then he pivoted. Not to Mbappe. To Naples.

“For me, Kvara deserves the Ballon d'Or. For me, Kvara [Khvicha Kvaratskhelia] has been phenomenal and being a winger and having such an impact and successful campaign. Apart from winning the Champions League, I think football players will agree that Kvara was the most important player last season.”

That is a bold line in an era dominated by forwards who live on numbers. Sagna leans on influence instead. Impact. How much a player bends a season to his will.

He still reserves admiration for Mbappe’s grand stage exploits. “Of course Kylian had an amazing World Cup and I was pleased to see him scoring so many goals, not only because he's French but because I love football and when I see him shining the way he's starting the season, that's his standard, that's his level and he is in the top few players.”

Then comes the sting.

“He might be the top, the best player in the world, but the problem is how impactful were you for your team last season?”

Mbappe’s numbers, Madrid’s drought

It is a fair question. Mbappe has delivered relentlessly in front of goal since moving to Real Madrid. Two La Liga Golden Boots. Ninety goals in 106 appearances. Those are superstar returns by any metric.

Yet Real Madrid, the club that built its modern identity on hoarding major trophies, have gone two full seasons without one. No Champions League. No defining league campaign. No parade that seals the individual argument.

For a player of Mbappe’s profile, that gap is starting to feel awkward.

Louis Saha, another former France international, senses the tension. Asked by GOAL whether Mbappe will ever actually get his hands on the Ballon d’Or, he did not pretend the path is straightforward.

“That's a difficult one, because for sure he wants to win those trophies,” Saha said. “He knows that by winning the Champions League, you have a greater chance to win the Ballon d'Or. He knows that that's the way to put all the qualities in front of the best eyes to be judged.”

The pressure, Saha suggests, is not just external. It is building around the story of Mbappe’s career.

“I do understand that the pressure is on because now it's been almost a very controversial way of not being in those finals. He left the club that won it and now going to a club which is supposed to be one of the favourites, and they don't reach the finals.”

The narrative has flipped on him. Instead of being seen as the final piece of the puzzle, he is being framed as the missing ingredient in his own destiny.

“It's starting to question a little bit on the personal side. Let's say on the spiritual side, he seems to be a black cat in a way. So that's the bad line that he wants to rectify as quickly as possible.”

Greatness, ego and the thin line of judgment

Saha does not doubt Mbappe’s right to dream big. In fact, he sees that insatiable appetite as part of the very definition of greatness.

“It's always nice to see someone succeed and reach their goals when they have the potential. I think he deserves it,” Saha said. “Regardless of people criticising his style of play, he wants to have everything.

“Every situation needs to be about him and that's the proof of greats. But sometimes if things don’t work out, it's easy to criticise. If Cristiano couldn't convert all these trophies that he had over the years, he would have been doomed a long time ago.”

That is the harsh reality of the Ballon d’Or era. Numbers matter. So do performances. But trophies still frame the conversation.

Rodri and Lamine Yamal have the glow of world champions. Kane has the goals but not the European crown. Dembele and PSG have the Champions League momentum. Kvaratskhelia, in Sagna’s eyes, carried a season on his shoulders. And Mbappe, the man many still instinctively call the best in the world, stands at a crossroads where personal brilliance and collective success finally have to meet.

The next campaign will decide whether he breaks that “black cat” tag, or watches another golden year end with someone else holding the Ballon d’Or.