Thierry Henry picking Kylian Mbappé for the 2026 Ballon d'Or is the expected take. Zlatan Ibrahimovic going all-in on 19-year-old Lamine Yamal with a single word — "Yamal" — is the one that actually makes you think.
Both men were interviewed at the FC 27 launch in New York, both know the Ballon d'Or from the inside, and both know what it feels like to never win it. Henry finished second in 2003 and third in 2006. Zlatan's career best was fourth in 2013. When these two talk about this award, they're not guessing — they're speaking from scar tissue.
Henry's case is built on numbers Mbappé actually earned
Henry's argument isn't sentimental. He pointed to Mbappé leading the scoring charts in La Liga, the Champions League, and the World Cup — where the Frenchman won his second consecutive Golden Boot with 10 goals, finishing the tournament on 22 career World Cup goals. That moved him past Lionel Messi, who ended on 21.
France didn't win the trophy — Spain beat Argentina 1-0 in the final — and that's the main ammunition for anyone pushing back on Mbappé. Henry's answer: the Ballon d'Or has gone to players without winners' medals before, so check the record. He also flagged Michael Olise as a close second, which pushed Yamal out of his top two entirely.
"There are a lot of people that are candidates, and they're not like Mickey Mouse candidates," Henry said. Fair point. This is a genuinely open race, and Mbappé's individual numbers in a World Cup year are the kind of stat line that tends to move voters.
Yamal's case is the one that actually surprises you
Zlatan's pick isn't nostalgia or contrarianism. Yamal put up 25 goals across Barcelona and Spain in the 2025-26 season. He became the youngest player to score against England at Wembley in competitive football — 19 years and 75 days old, breaking Patrick Kluivert's record from 1996. Spain won the World Cup with him in the starting lineup.
Last year he finished second to Ousmane Dembélé, collecting 1,059 points to Dembélé's 1,380. Zlatan clearly thinks that gap has closed. Given the season Yamal just had — and the fact that his team actually lifted the trophy — it's not a ridiculous position.
The votes are already locked in. The jury of 100 journalists submitted their ballots before midnight on September 28, so the Ibrahimovic-Henry debate changes nothing on the scoreboard. The verdict lands on October 26 at the London Palladium — the first time the ceremony has been held in London, chosen to honour Stanley Matthews, the very first winner back in 1956.
- Lamine Yamal: 25 goals for Barcelona and Spain, World Cup winner, youngest scorer at Wembley in competitive history
- Kylian Mbappé: 10 World Cup goals, Golden Boot, leads scoring charts in La Liga and Champions League, 22 career World Cup goals — past Messi
- Michael Olise: flagged by Henry as a serious candidate, close behind Mbappé in his ranking
Mbappé's Golden Boot in a losing semi-finalist's campaign versus Yamal's quieter numbers on a trophy-winning team — that's the actual tension in this debate. Zlatan, who always believed outspoken stars got shortchanged by Ballon d'Or voters, is backing the teenager who plays with exactly that kind of personality. Make of that what you will.
