Ballon d'Or 2026: Mbappé receives new support at Real Madrid

Mbappé can count on Thibaut Courtois

Ballon d'Or Today at 13:35

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Ballon d'Or 2026: Mbappé receives new support at Real Madrid

In an interview with DAZN Belgium, Thibaut Courtois backed Kylian Mbappé for the 2026 Ballon d'Or.

Despite Real Madrid’s lack of team trophies, Courtois believes Kylian Mbappé’s performances deserve to be rewarded. “I think Kylian deserves it. Do you choose someone who has won trophies or someone who has been above the rest throughout the season, even without winning anything? I think no one was individually better than Mbappé, but unfortunately, we didn’t win anything collectively,” he said.

Courtois puts Mbappé ahead of Yamal

In his comments, Courtois placed Kylian Mbappé ahead of his main rival, Lamine Yamal. The Madrid goalkeeper acknowledged the merits of the young Barcelona prodigy. “For me, he had a slightly less impressive World Cup, but he was crowned world champion, won La Liga with Barcelona and had a good year,” he explained about Yamal.

🌕🫵🏼 Thibaut Courtois on Ballon d’Or: “Kylian Mbappé”. “Individually, no player was better than him this year, but sadly, we didn't win any trophies”, told DAZN. “Lamine Yamal had a worse World Cup than Mbappé, but he won the title, and won the league”. https://t.co/2sD3uCYzcT
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) October 21, 2026

Courtois also questioned the criteria used to select the winner of the Ballon d'Or. “I thought it wasn’t his best year, even though he had won the European Championship with Spain. The previous year, when Manchester City had won the Champions League, I think he would have deserved to win it,” he added.

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Joshua SOSSOU

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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.