And so we come to the final round of power rankings for the 2026 Ballon d'Or. Of course, the eligibility period for the competition long since ended with Spain crowned world champions. On Oct. 26, the consensus best player in the world for last season will be announced.
Who exactly that might be seems far more up in the air than in most years. Twelve months ago, for instance, the narrative had swung irresistibly behind Ousmane Dembele. It did not matter that Mohamed Salah and Raphinha had better pure output.
Dembele had a better story, the long-admired talent finally putting it all together and at just the right moment to be the best player in the best club side in the world. All the major honors -- frankly, that's just the Champions League -- were his. If you are wondering why you are hearing so much from Lamine Yamal, Kylian Mbappe and Harry Kane in recent weeks, well it's because they all know there are likely swing voters to be won before the deadline of Sept. 28.
Neither they nor anyone else have an unassailable candidacy after a season of many excellent individual campaigns but few, if any, legitimately great ones. The very best performers of the club season did not take home that one extra trophy to buttress their campaign. Bayern Munich and Barcelona won their domestic leagues.
The English champions almost exist as a counter to the individual qualities the Ballon d'Or glorifies. Arsenal won the league in spite of the absence of their star forwards, a triumph of depth and resilience that is unlikely to earn them many podium spots. Paris Saint-Germain repeated the league and Champions League double but half their strongest XI barely showed up in Ligue 1.
Dembele can hardly repeat off around 2500 minutes for club and country last season. As is always the case, the World Cup promises to warp voting. It clarifies little among the front runners.
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