Ballon d’Or: Messi, Kane, Mbappé… The players most « involved » in goals

20.09.26 10:15 LaLiga Spain

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The 2026 Ballon d’Or ceremony will be held on 26 October in London. France Football will thus reveal the name of the winner, chosen from the list of 30 nominees, who will succeed Ousmane Dembélé, the 2025 winner.

Messi, king of goal involvements

Based on the attacking rankings, which take into account the number of goals and assists, Lionel Messi leads the way with 53 goals and 32 assists. He is ahead of Harry Kane (73 goals, 8 assists) and Kylian Mbappé (58 goals, 13 assists).

It must be said that this is not the only criterion to be taken into account, but it is among the factors that could influence the final ranking and lend greater credibility to the trophy winner.

Performances at the World Cup, since this is a year in which the international tournament was played, will also be decisive in the final choice.

The ranking for the best G/A ratio in 2025-2026

Lionel Messi (Argentina): 85 goal involvements (53 goals, 32 assists)

Harry Kane (England): 81 goal involvements (73 goals, 8 assists)

Kylian Mbappé (France): 71 goal involvements (58 goals, 13 assists)

Erling Haaland (Norway): 70 goal involvements (58 goals, 12 assists)

Michael Olise (France): 62 goal involvements (25 goals, 37 assists)

Luis Díaz (Colombia): 53 goal involvements (30 goals, 23 assists)

Julián Quiñones (Mexico): 46 goal involvements (41 goals, 5 assists)

Vinícius Jr. (Brazil): 45 goal involvements (28 goals, 17 assists)

Lamine Yamal (Spain): 45 goal involvements (25 goals, 20 assists)

Lautaro Martínez (Argentina): 41 goal involvements (30 goals, 11 assists)

Ousmane Dembélé (France): 41 goal involvements (26 goals, 15 assists)

Bruno Fernandes (Portugal): 38 goal involvements (13 goals, 25 assists)

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (Georgia): 34 goal involvements (24 goals, 10 assists)

Ferran Torres (Spain): 32 goal involvements (25 goals, 7 assists)

Kylian Mbappé, the favourite of “Foot Africa” experts

When surveyed by “Foot Africa”, the experts chose Frenchman Kylian Mbappé as a potential winner of the “2026 Ballon d’Or”.

“My favourite is Kylian Mbappé. He managed to establish himself at Real Madrid despite the criticism he faced upon his arrival. He has also maintained the same level of performance, both since the last World Cup and at the start of this season,” said former Congolese international Yves Diba-Ilunga.

For his part, former Tunisia U23 coach Chiheb Ellili had also made the Frenchman his favourite. “I am thinking in particular of Kylian Mbappé. Even though I am neither a Madrid fan nor a Paris Saint-Germain supporter, I recognise his performances. In particular, he won an important individual honour by becoming the top scorer in World Cup history,” he analysed.

Portugal’s Paulo Duarte, the current coach of Guinea, followed suit by backing Kylian Mbappé. “Firstly, he was La Liga’s top scorer with 25 goals and has scored eight goals this season. He also finished as the top scorer at the last World Cup and became the competition’s all-time leading scorer. In my opinion, he thoroughly deserves to win the Ballon d’Or given his performances, both for his club and his national team,” he explained.

Imed Ben Amara |

Editorar, fr

Imed Ben Amara - bilingual sports writer and web editor with experience in football content creation. Since 2021, he has contributed to Foot Africa, providing news coverage and analysis.

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