Do they know the winner? Report: Real's Ballon d'Or U-turn!

Real Madrid stayed away from the Ballon d’Or ceremony in each of the past two years. This year will likely be different. According to French newspaper ‘L’Équipe’, a large delegation is set to travel to London.

That naturally raises the question of whether Spain’s record champions know something we don’t. Alongside Kylian Mbappé, three other Real Madrid players have been nominated: Jude Bellingham, Vinícius Júnior and Marc Cucurella.

Mbappé probably has the best chance. His strongest rivals are Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal and Bayern’s Harry Kane. While Mbappé has impressed above all with his goalscoring prowess, finishing as top scorer not only at the World Cup but also in La Liga and the Champions League, Kane and Yamal have also won trophies with their clubs.

Kane won the league and cup with Bayern and was involved in 68 goals in 51 club appearances. In addition to the league title, Yamal also won the World Cup, of course.

📸 Alexander Hassenstein – 2026 Getty Images

Mbappé, meanwhile, failed to win any trophies. If he wins football’s most prestigious individual award, it would be the 11th time the Ballon d’Or has gone to a Real Madrid player. Only Barcelona have produced more winners.

The Real Madrid star certainly has a chance. If the Real delegation does attend the ceremony, it will mark the end of their boycott of the event. Real stayed away from the gala entirely in 2024 and 2025, causing quite a stir. The last two awards for the world’s best player went to Rodri and Ousmane Dembélé.

What do you think: Who will win the Ballon d’Or on Monday? Let us know in the comments!

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.