Ballon d’Or: towards a huge surprise

While the club season has just ended, the favorite who emerges for the Ballon d’Or is perhaps not who we think.

While the club season has just ended, the debates for the winner of the next Ballon d’Or are well underway. Winner of the Champions League and decisive in the final, Ousmane Dembélé is obviously among the favorites, but his less impressive season from a statistical point of view could work against him.

An English favorite?

An area where another player has excelled this season: Harry Kane. Although he was eliminated in the Champions League semi-final against PSG with Bayern Munich, the English striker won the championship and the German Cup and above all scored 61 goals in 51 matches with the Bavarian club. If the World Cup will play a big role in the awarding of the 2026 Ballon d’Or, the former Tottenham player is in any case the favorite of Betfair, an English bookmaker perhaps a bit chauvinistic. If he wins, Kane would become the first English player to win the Ballon d’Or since Michael Owen in 2001.

🚨 The Golden Ball is also one of our last ties and has a favorite https://t.co/o9AF7YbKc5

— MARCA (@marca) June 4, 2026

Dembélé on the podium

According to Betfair, the England international currently has a 19.6% chance of winning the prestigious trophy. Thus, he is ahead of Ousmane Dembélé (14.2%) while Declan Rice, unfortunate finalist in the Champions League but who allowed Arsenal to win their first English championship title in 20 years, completes this virtual podium with 10.6%.

Mbappé far in the polls

Then come other big names who left their mark on the 2025-2026 season such as Michaël Olise (8%), Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Lamine Yamal (7.1%), Vitinha (5.3%) and Kylian Mbappé (4.2%). There is no doubt that the results of the World Cup will reshuffle the cards.