The Ballon d'Or has always been football's quietest big prize: voted on, handed over, discussed afterwards. Not this year. With voting closing in mid-September and the ceremony set for 26 October in London, the leading candidates have thrown out the old etiquette of false modesty and started openly lobbying for votes.
The shortlist of 30, released by France Football on 8 September, reads like a season review. Holders and favourites include Ousmane Dembele, the reigning winner, alongside a Paris Saint-Germain squad that holds a record ten nominations after retaining the Champions League. Real Madrid, remember, boycotted the 2024 ceremony when none of their seven nominees won — proof of how much the trophy now matters.
The loudest exchanges have come from Spain and France. Lamine Yamal, 19, fresh off a World Cup and La Liga double with his country, told Movistar Plus that he and Kylian Mbappe are the two best players in the world and that, having won everything, he deserves the prize. Mbappe's counter-argument is statistical: despite winning nothing with Real Madrid or France — who lost a World Cup semi-final to Spain — he scored ten goals at the World Cup, taking his all-time tournament tally to 22, a record. He topped last season's scoring charts in both La Liga and the Champions League, and when asked who he'd vote for, answered simply: himself. Even his manager Jose Mourinho joined in, saying the player who made history this summer plays for neither PSG nor Spain.
PSG, meanwhile, are playing a team card, refusing to single anyone out while insisting the winner must come from their squad — with Dembele, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Fabian Ruiz (the only nominee to win both the Champions League and World Cup this year) as leading names. Coach Luis Enrique name-checked several of his players as possible winners. Bayern Munich have taken the opposite route for Harry Kane, who scored 73 goals in a German double-winning season plus a World Cup third place with England: the player stays silent, the club made a campaign video, with teammate Luis Diaz calling his case undeniable.
Why does the lobbying matter? Around 100 journalists — one from each of the top 100 FIFA-ranked nations — decide the result, and there is no clear favourite. The trophy carries no cash prize, but boot contracts often include bonuses tied to it, and winners see sponsorship and merchandising income spike. Lionel Messi (eight wins) and Cristiano Ronaldo (five) each earn an estimated $65 million or more a year from endorsements alone.
For anyone planning a trip around football this autumn, London on 26 October is the date and the city to note — the ceremony has moved to the English capital even though only five nominees play there. Otherwise, the real show is currently running online, where the sport's biggest names are campaigning harder than most politicians.