Kylian Mbappé's Ballon d’Or Dreams Diminish Amidst Messi's Brilliance
Kylian Mbappé arrived in North America like a man on a mission and left it with his Ballon d’Or dream hanging by a thread.
Eight goals, a semi-final run, and long stretches where he looked utterly unplayable had dragged France to the brink of another shot at global dominance. For a moment, it felt like the Real Madrid superstar had muscled his way back into the argument for football’s biggest individual prize.
Then Spain happened. And the door slammed shut.
Mbappé’s brilliance, Madrid’s drought
On a personal level, Mbappé has done almost everything right. He terrorised defences at the World Cup, confirmed again that he belongs in any conversation about the best player on the planet, and produced another prolific season in club football.
But the stage he plays on still matters. So do the trophies.
Real Madrid have now gone through back-to-back seasons without a major title. For a club built on European nights and domestic dominance, that’s not a blip. That’s a problem. And in the ruthless arithmetic of the Ballon d’Or, it is fatal.
Jeremie Aliadière, speaking to GOAL in association with Betinia NJ, did not dress it up when asked if Mbappé’s wait for the award is likely to continue. He pointed straight at the honours board.
If Mbappé had capped his numbers with silverware in Madrid white, Aliadière believes the Frenchman would still be firmly in the running. But he didn’t. The goals were there. The leadership was there. The trophies were not.
Everyone inside the game knows the unwritten rule: to win the Ballon d’Or, you usually need to carry a Champions League, a World Cup or a Euros on your back. Mbappé, for all his fireworks, finishes this cycle without any of those.
He is not alone. Harry Kane, another who piled up goals and influence, saw his own candidacy evaporate when England fell short. The margins at this level are brutal.
Messi, again, at the centre of it all
While Mbappé and Kane lick their wounds, Lionel Messi is quietly, almost absurdly, building yet another case.
At 39, he has steered Argentina to another World Cup final, scoring eight times along the way. He is not riding on reputation. He is still deciding games.
The 2025 season in North America only sharpened the picture. Messi lifted MLS Cup with Inter Miami and walked away with MVP honours, bending a new league to his will just as he did in Europe for nearly two decades.
Then came the World Cup, and more of the same. England were the latest to feel it, undone in a dramatic semi-final in Atlanta, Messi once more at the heart of the chaos and control that define Argentina’s play when he is in full flow.
A ninth Golden Ball at the tournament is on the table if he delivers again against Spain. A ninth Ballon d’Or is no fantasy either. It is a live possibility.
Aliadière can already see the narrative forming: if Messi lifts the trophy again, the world will stare at the age on his passport, replay what he has just done on the biggest stage, and forget entirely that his club football now comes in MLS colours. The spectacle, the timing, the weight of the moment – they all bend the debate his way.
Ronaldo left behind, Messi still climbing
The comparison with Cristiano Ronaldo, Messi’s eternal measuring stick, only sharpens the contrast.
Former MLS midfielder and World Cup winner Kleberson, speaking to GOAL, summed it up bluntly. Argentina, with Messi still operating at this level, have a better chance of winning the World Cup than anyone else. Not because of reputation, but because he remains that good.
Ronaldo is still scoring, still competing, but the environment is different. The supporting cast around him does not match the chemistry and quality that Argentina have built around Messi. Kleberson called it “purity” – the way this Argentina side fits around their No.10, the way it amplifies his strengths.
That is why, in his eyes, Messi has “a lot of chance” to add another Ballon d’Or, and to move four clear of Ronaldo in a race that once looked destined to finish level. If Argentina win the World Cup again, Kleberson is unequivocal: Messi will be “100 per cent” in the frame for the award.
There is also a respect that crosses borders and rivalries. Kleberson says even Brazilian players and fans want to see footballers like Messi, players who are a joy to watch, crowned on nights like the Ballon d’Or gala. They recognise what they are witnessing.
The rules of the game
Strip away the noise and the pattern is familiar. The Ballon d’Or rarely rewards the best pure season in isolation. It rewards the player who defines the biggest moments, in the biggest competitions, at exactly the right time.
Mbappé’s numbers are elite. His influence at both club and country is undeniable. But without the Champions League, without the World Cup, without the Euros, his candidacy is built on sand in a year when Messi is once again shaping history.
So the debate rolls on. Mbappé waits. Kane waits. Ronaldo watches.
And at 39, Lionel Messi stands one game away from bending the Ballon d’Or era around his name yet again.
