Ballon d'Or eludes Mbappé for a ninth time: a first runner-up finish still leaves the French star unable to hide his disappointment

He won the World Cup before turning twenty and reigns over world football. There is no shortage of trophies and personal honours in Kylian Mbappé's collection. But for the ninth time, the French star has had to return empty-handed from the Ballon d'Or stage.

Mbappé was quite hopeful about himself this time, and his statistics on the field said the same. Even after a dream season of 58 goals and 13 assists in 60 matches across all competitions, the prestigious 2026 award did not end up in his hands.

This year's award was won by English forward Harry Kane. The French star, who failed to win over the panel of 100 journalists, could not hide his disappointment. According to Spanish and French media, Mbappé believes the award was rightfully his on the basis of individual performance.

This is the first time in Ballon d'Or history that Mbappé has finished the voting battle as runner-up. Before this, he placed fourth in 2018, seventh in 2017 and 2025, sixth in 2019, 2022 and 2024, and third in 2023.

Despite having no major team trophy, the Real Madrid forward had come to Paris with strong hopes of winning the trophy on the back of his devastating performances on the field. But falling behind in the final stage of vote counting dealt him a major blow.

Before reaching the glittering Paris stage, Mbappé had argued his own case. Describing winning the Ballon d'Or as one of the goals of his football life, he had said: 'Personally, I had a great season. I was the top scorer in every major competition. Honestly, nobody performed better than me this time.'

Explaining his position further, he said: 'This is entirely an individual trophy. Individual excellence should be placed above everything here. The ability to light up the field and make the difference alone should be the main criterion for winning this trophy.'

History, however, speaks in favour of Mbappé's argument. In past years, Lionel Messi (2012, winning only the Copa del Rey) and Cristiano Ronaldo (2013) lifted the Ballon d'Or purely on individual performance, without a major team trophy.

The Ballon d'Or may have slipped away, but the French star has written new history in the record books. With 10 goals at the World Cup held in the United States, Mexico and Canada, Mbappé took the throne as the highest goalscorer in World Cup history — his 22 goals moved him past Lionel Messi's record of 21.

Alongside the World Cup Golden Boot, he has won La Liga's 'Pichichi' trophy for the second consecutive time and the Champions League top scorer's award. He has also matched Cristiano Ronaldo's milestone of 59 goals in a calendar year for Real Madrid.

He put the 'Golden Boy' award in 2017 and the 'Kopa Trophy' in 2018 into his collection, yet this ultimate trophy for writing his name among the greatest footballers of all time still remains beyond the French star's reach.