Ballon d'Or 2024 Contenders: Rodri, Yamal, Kane, and More

The unofficial title of “best player on the planet” usually finds its way to the man holding a major trophy in a World Cup year. Spain’s summer on North American soil has reset that debate. Their stars are now front and centre.

Rodri, already crowned Ballon d’Or winner in 2024, has the medals and the metronomic authority to go back-to-back. Alongside him, the new phenomenon at Barcelona, Lamine Yamal, has turned a teenage breakout into a genuine claim on football’s biggest individual prize. Spain’s success has dragged both into the spotlight, and they look comfortable there.

Harry Kane is in that conversation too. The Bayern striker plundered 61 goals for the Bundesliga champions last season, a staggering return that would, in many eras, make him a runaway favourite. Yet his campaign ended without the Champions League trophy in 2026, and that missing line on the honours list still weighs heavily in an award so often shaped by European nights in May.

Paris Saint-Germain do not have that problem. They went back-to-back in the Champions League, a statement of power that keeps the Parc des Princes at the heart of the Golden Ball race. Ousmane Dembele, revitalised and decisive on the biggest stage, has the platform to chase a second straight Ballon d’Or. So do several of his team-mates, all armed with the kind of continental pedigree that voters rarely ignore.

Bacary Sagna, though, sees the race differently. The former Arsenal, Manchester City and France defender, speaking to GOAL in association with BetVictor Online Casino, acknowledged Kylian Mbappe’s brilliance but pushed another name to the front.

“For me the best at the minute, he's in the top three,” Sagna said of Mbappe. “He had an amazing year and he is for me one of the best. But being a striker gives more chances to score, so more chances for the people to look at him favourably.”

Then he delivered his verdict.

“For me, Kvara deserves the Ballon d'Or. For me, Kvara [Khvicha Kvaratskhelia] has been phenomenal and being a winger and having such an impact and successful campaign. Apart from winning the Champions League, I think football players will agree that Kvara was the most important player last season.”

That is a powerful endorsement. In an era obsessed with goal tallies and highlight reels, Sagna points to a winger whose influence stretched far beyond the scoresheet. Impact. Campaign. Importance to the team. Those are the words he leans on, not just numbers.

Mbappe, of course, is never far from the argument. His World Cup exploits still echo.

“Of course Kylian had an amazing World Cup and I was pleased to see him scoring so many goals, not only because he's French but because I love football and when I see him shining the way he's starting the season, that's his standard, that's his level and he is in the top few players,” Sagna added. “He might be the top, the best player in the world, but the problem is how impactful were you for your team last season?”

That question cuts straight to the heart of Mbappe’s Ballon d’Or frustration.

At Real Madrid, the ‘Galactico’ forward has delivered relentlessly in front of goal. Two La Liga Golden Boots. Ninety goals in 106 appearances. On a personal level, the numbers are elite, the consistency ruthless. Yet the club have now gone two seasons without a major trophy. For a player chasing the game’s biggest individual honour, that drought matters.

Louis Saha knows exactly what that means. The former France international, speaking to GOAL, underlined the tension between Mbappe’s individual dominance and his missing Champions League crown.

“That's a difficult one, because for sure he wants to win those trophies,” Saha said. “He knows that by winning the Champions League, you have a greater chance to win the Ballon d'Or. He knows that that's the way to put all the qualities in front of the best eyes to be judged.”

The pressure is not just external now. It is creeping into the narrative around him.

“I do understand that the pressure is on because now it's been almost a very controversial way of not being in those finals,” Saha continued. “He left the club that won it and now going to a club which is supposed to be one of the favourites, and they don't reach the finals.”

That storyline has started to sting. Saha did not shy away from how it looks.

“It's starting to question a little bit on the personal side. Let's say on the spiritual side, he seems to be a black cat in a way. So that's the bad line that he wants to rectify as quickly as possible.”

This is the paradox of Mbappe. A player who wants everything, and has the talent to justify that ambition, but still lacks the one club trophy that tends to unlock the Ballon d’Or.

“It's always nice to see someone succeed and reach their goals when they have the potential. I think he deserves it,” Saha said. “Regardless of people criticising his style of play, he wants to have everything.

“Every situation needs to be about him and that's the proof of greats. But sometimes if things don’t work out, it's easy to criticise. If Cristiano couldn't convert all these trophies that he had over the years, he would have been doomed a long time ago.”

So the field is set. Rodri, the conductor with the medals. Lamine Yamal, the prodigy riding a wave. Kane, the goal machine still chasing that defining European night. Dembele and his PSG cohort, armed with back-to-back Champions League titles. Kvaratskhelia, the winger Sagna insists was last season’s true heartbeat. And Mbappe, the superstar caught between outrageous numbers and unforgiving expectations.

The Ballon d’Or will not just reward brilliance this time. It will answer a harsher question: whose season truly bent the sport to their will?