The most prestigious award in football is the Ballon d’Or. It gives recognition to the best coaches, players, and teams in the sport.
The ceremony commenced on 26 October at 22:00 SAST and was hosted, for the first time, not in Paris, but in London. The Masters of Ceremonies were Kate Scott and Thierry Henry. There were performances by French Montana and Jorja Smith.
The ceremony was available to stream for free on CBS Sports Golazo and DAZN. Alternatively sports media such as Bleachers Report Football, ESPN Football and Sport Bible posted live updates across their social media platforms.
The winner of the award is voted for by journalists who are from countries ranked in the FIFA Top 100 men’s national teams and Top 50 women’s national teams. The three requirements are: individual performances, decisive and impressive character; collective performances and titles won; class and fair play.
Although the Ballon d’Or is the main award, there are other awards up for grabs, such as the Men’s Striker of the Year Trophy, Men’s Young Talent of the Year, and the Men’s Goalkeeper of the Year.
From 2008 to 2017, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo dominated the Men’s Ballon d’Or. After captaining Croatia to the FIFA Men’s World Cup 2018 Final, the award was given to Luka Modric. In 2022 and 2024, it was given to Karim Benzema and Rodri respectively. Ousmane Dembèlè was the previous recipient of the award after winning the treble with Paris-Saint Germain.
In 2001, a twenty-two year old Michael Owen was awarded the Ballon d’Or after he won the FA Cup, League Cup, and UEFA Cup with Liverpool. Fast forward twenty-five years later and English fans can proudly sing “it’s coming home” after Harry Kane walked home with not one but two awards: the Men’s Ballon d’Or and the Men’s Striker of the Year Trophy. The Bayern Munich striker was the top goal scorer with sixty-one goals and seven assists in fifty-one appearances for his club. Additionally, the England captain netted twelve goals and provided one assist for his national team.
Thirty players were nominated and the following walked away with a trophy: Lamine Yamal, who plays for FC Barcelona and won the Men’ Young Talent Trophy after winning La Liga, and Unai Simon, who plays for Spain and won the Men’s Goalkeeper of the Year.
Amid the foundation of the French award night, the Ballon d’Or race and rankings has gained traction on social media platforms such as Instagram, X, and TikTok, all the way to pundits and journalists.
There is a shift in the way the Ballon d’Or is perceived in the eyes of the public and the fans. Social media and PR campaigns have taken over the essence of the race. Goals, assists, on-field behaviour, attitude towards referees and players, and decisiveness on the pitch are aspects of voting that are evaluated. However, a short clip of a player talking to the press gains more traction than the overall performance of the player throughout the season.
There were three Ballon d’Or nominees at the forefront of this year’s race: Kylian Mbappé, Lamine Yamal, and Harry Kane. Each of these players have had an incredible 2025/2026 season.
Fan favourites and the popularity of a player have altered the public into thinking who deserves the award. Tuks student Asibonge Mabaso agrees that, “It’s a popularity competition.” In a poll conducted by the PDBY, Lamine Yamal acquired 34% of the public’s votes ahead of Lionel Messi (29%), Harry Kane (20%), and Kylian Mbappé (17%). This result reflects an individual perspective of the public surrounding the Ballon d’Or race.
The French player’s social media agenda is mainly pushed because of fandom culture. Fans engage in posts, shares, arguments, replies, and spammed pictures, which drives the engagement of Mbappé-related content on people’s feed. He recently won the 2026 Onze d’Or Award, naming him the best player of the 2025/2026 season and surpassing João Neves and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia. This particular award is a momentum builder because the winner of this prestigious award is rumored to win the Ballon d’Or.
Mbappé spoke with BBC Sports stating that, “I always think I’m the best [player in the world] but everyone has their own opinion.” And this gives opportunity to fans and critics to engage more on the topic.
Lamine Yamal is a youngster that is on everyone’s lips, having been the runner up of the 2025 Ballon d’Or race and winning the 2026 FIFA World Cup at the age of nineteen. However, the fans and the public heavily criticise Yamal’s Ballon d’Or season because of renowned journalist Fabrizio Romano. The journalist tweets an alarming number of posts regarding Yamal during the Ballon d’Or season, constantly praising him and shining the spotlight on him.
Bayern Munich player Harry Kane has a different story. The English player does not have much of a social media campaign or fans fighting in comment sections. However, his silence does not disqualify him from the race. Sky Sports journalist Ron Walker highlights, “Harry Kane set the record to become the fastest player to 100 goals in the history of the Bundesliga,” which is a record breaking milestone on its own.
Players such as Kylian Mbappé and Lamine Yamal have openly and outwardly expressed their ambition to win the golden ball and have placed themselves in the seat of desire, but how did this look back then during the times of Messi and Ronaldo?
With the likes of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, the Ballon d’Or was a predictable award. They were predictable winners and their skills on the pitch translated the outcome. They both had structural PR, but they did not have the PR and social media campaigns that are seen today.
Social media and PR does not disqualify the three nominees of the 2026 Ballon d’Or race, but it points as evidence of a change in eras and how much the likes of pundits, journalists online, and even social media posts can cause a stir in people’s opinions.
The night the French prestige took place, the award was presented by 2-time Ballon d’Or winner, Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima.
And through the secretive votes of international journalists, one man held the golden ball; that man was Bayern Munich player, Harry Kane. He scored 73 goals and had a total of 8 assists in 65 appearances, having won trophies such as the Bundesliga, the German cup (DFB-Pokal) and the Franz Beckenbauer Supercup.
Finishing ahead of his competitors, Kylian Mbappé, who came in second by a slight gap, and Lamine Yamal, who came in third, the striker accepted his award with dignity and honour, becoming the first English player to win the award in 25 years.
It was a night to remember for the Englishman as he took home the award that was set on many players’ hearts and set on everybody’s lips.
Visual: Daniel Green
Abigail Bangure