Ballon d'Or 2026: Jean-Pierre Papin criticises Mbappé's communication

There are still two weeks to go before the winner of the 2026 Ballon d'Or is announced. Jean-Pierre Papin broke his silence in recent hours to criticise Kylian Mbappé's communication.

With just a few days to go before the 2026 Ballon d'Or ceremony, Jean-Pierre Papin gave his prediction. The former French striker said that Kylian Mbappé (27, with 8 appearances and 7 goals in La Liga this season) does not deserve the award. His communication is one of the reasons why.

"It was 'too much' for me," Papin dismisses Mbappé

The 1991 Ballon d'Or winner, Jean-Pierre Papin, did not spare Kylian Mbappé on France Télévisions. "I like Kylian a lot; he's a record-breaker. On the other hand, at some point, it becomes 'me, me, me and me.' You become the Ballon d'Or winner, you can't always say that you want to win it. The others are the ones who decide. In his communication, at one point it was: 'Nobody else deserves the Ballon d'Or but me.' It was 'too much' for me. Today, when you look at how the Ballon d'Or is awarded, there are all kinds of criteria, and that particular criterion doesn't work in Kylian's favour. Everything else is fine," he said.

Also read: Portugal: Cristiano Ronaldo will make his return, local press reacts

Papin eventually named his favourite. "Harry Kane—there's nothing going wrong for him today," he said.

Joshua SOSSOU

Editorfr, en, ar

As a sports fan, and particularly a football fan, I've been putting my writing talent to good use for a number of years now to promote African talent and the continent's football in general. On Foot Africa, enjoy reading each of my lines.

Related teams and leagues

Real Madrid