Ballon d'Or Debate: Who is the Best Player in the World?

The title of “best player on the planet” usually lands in the hands of the man holding a World Cup or a Champions League trophy. This year, the picture is far more crowded.

Spain’s summer triumph in North America has thrust their stars into the spotlight. Rodri, already crowned Ballon d’Or winner in 2024, stands as the benchmark once again. Alongside him now at Barcelona is Lamine Yamal, the teenage phenomenon whose rise has been so steep that talk of the game’s biggest individual prize no longer sounds premature. Both have the medals, both have the moments, both have the narrative.

Harry Kane has the numbers. Sixty-one goals for Bayern as they stormed to another Bundesliga title is a haul that would usually tilt any debate his way. Yet the glaring omission on his résumé remains: no Champions League crown in 2026. In an era where the biggest nights in Europe shape legacies, that absence still weighs heavily.

Paris Saint-Germain do not have that problem. They went back-to-back in the Champions League, a statement of dominance that naturally drags their dressing room into the Ballon d’Or conversation. Ousmane Dembele, revitalised and decisive on those European stages, has the platform to chase a second Golden Ball. So do several of his team-mates at Parc des Princes, all surfing the same wave of continental success.

Bacary Sagna, though, sees the race through a different lens. The former Arsenal, Manchester City and France defender, speaking to GOAL in association with BetVictor Online Casino, did not simply fall in line behind the obvious names when asked if Kylian Mbappe deserves the Ballon d’Or as the best player in the world right now.

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

Then he pivoted.

“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 striking endorsement in a field packed with superstars. In Sagna’s eyes, impact trumps image. He recognises Mbappe’s brilliance, but he sees Kvaratskhelia’s all-round influence as the decisive factor.

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

That question hangs over Real Madrid as much as it does over Mbappe. The “Galactico” forward has delivered relentlessly in front of goal: two La Liga Golden Boots, 90 goals in 106 appearances. Yet the club have gone two full seasons without a major trophy. For a player of his stature, those numbers without silverware only fuel scrutiny.

Louis Saha, another former France international, understands the pressure that comes with that gap between individual brilliance and collective reward. Asked by GOAL whether Mbappe will ever finally lift the Ballon d’Or, he did not hide the complexity of the situation.

“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 route is clear. The path, less so.

“I do understand that the pressure is on because now it's been almost a very controversial way of not being in those finals,” Saha added. “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.

“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.”

Harsh words, but they capture the mood. Mbappe’s talent is not in doubt. His timing, perhaps, is. Leaving Paris just as PSG scaled the European summit, then arriving at Madrid only for their trophy cabinet to stall, has created a strange narrative for a player who usually bends stories to his will.

Saha still believes the endgame is inevitable.

“It's always nice to see someone succeed and reach their goals when they have the potential. I think he deserves it. 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 comparison underlines the stakes. Cristiano Ronaldo turned personal ambition into a conveyor belt of trophies and Ballons d’Or. Mbappe sits at a similar crossroads: a phenomenon with the numbers, the aura, the fear factor – but still chasing the defining club triumphs that close every argument.

While Spain’s champions, Kane’s goals and Kvaratskhelia’s artistry all crowd the frame, the Ballon d’Or debate keeps circling back to the same question: when the dust settles on this era, will Mbappe be remembered as the game’s great soloist, or as the man who finally bent Europe’s biggest nights to his will?