An emotional Ousmane Dembele had barely settled back into his chair at Paris' historic Theatre du Chatelet last September, gold-dipped orb in hand, when campaigns for this year's men's Ballon d'Or prize began to whirr into action. Entourages roused their candidates, media revelled in the hype. Who deserved the award in 2026?
A World Cup year, no less, in which the narrative occasionally became not just which players could lead their country to glory, but how doing so would help them secure football's biggest individual accolade. "The Ballon d'Or has been discussed every single day," said European football expert Guillem Balague on BBC Sport's Euro Leagues podcast. "Quite clearly it follows the pattern of society, where it puts a lot of emphasis on the individual - it's harder to understand why a collective works, it becomes very easy to understand why one dribbles or doesn't dribble." Clamour for the spotlight only increased as the red-carpet ceremony neared.
"You can't underestimate the PR machine that some clubs and some players are going to use," added French football journalist Julien Laurens. Managers and sporting directors talked up their charges, and questioned why others on their squad did not make the 30-man shortlist. Deco branded it a "huge scandal" that Barcelona pair Raphinha and Pedri missed out, but backed Lamine Yamal as overwhelming favourite to win it.
Not, he says, because he is also a Barca player, but "because I like football". Star names have appeared frequently in the media. Lamine Yamal himself insisted he will not "beg for anything" - after last year saying he dreamed of "winning many" - but suggested the prize should not merely go to the top goalscorer.
Paris St-Germain manager Luis Enrique confessed he is "bored of the Ballon d’Or" - although with a record 10 PSG players on the shortlist, perhaps he wishes to keep out of the debate. Dembele and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia talked each other up to BBC Sport. "We can cut it in two," joked Dembele.
"Honestly, he deserves it, the season he had was exceptional." Kvaratskhelia responded: "Of course it's him!" A 'Kvara d'Or' campaign in Georgia celebrated the country's favourite fleet-footed son. "I think for the big nations it's really difficult to understand what [winning] would mean for the small country," the winger explained. Kylian Mbappe, who Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho compared to the original Ronaldo, was less subtle than most in his pitch to win the award for the first time.
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