The Ballon d’Or ceremony has only recently taken place, but attention has already turned towards the contenders for next year’s prize.Ousmane Dembele was crowned football’s finest in 2025, with the Paris Saint-Germain star recognised for his role in the club’s quadruple success, which included a maiden Champions League triumph.Several superstars have started the 2025/26 season with a bang, while next summer’s World Cup could prove decisive in the year’s Ballon d’Or vote.We’ve looked at the five current favourites to win football’s biggest individual honour.Ballon d’Or: Favourites for the 2026 awardErling Haaland – 14/1Erling Haaland can count himself unfortunate not to already be a Ballon d’Or winner. In 2022/23, he missed out to Lionel Messi despite scoring a staggering 52 goals in 53 matches for Manchester City’s treble-winning side.Messi’s inspirational performances in Argentina’s World Cup win swung him the vote, leaving Haaland as runner-up.Outmuscle Erling Haaland Challenge.Difficulty level: Impossible. pic.twitter.com/8cncgIwebM— Premier League (@premierleague) October 5, 2025The Norwegian’s absurd goal record has barely slowed down. This season, he’s opened the campaign with 18 goals in 11 games for club and country, with his prolific form for the national team is leading them towards a first World Cup appearance since 1998. Haaland is too good to miss out on football’s biggest stage again.Ousmane Dembele – 12/1Just seven players have won back-to-back Ballon d’Or awards, while none outside the dominant Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have achieved the feat since 1989.Ousmane Dembele will have to play catch-up in this season’s thinking, having missed much of the season’s opening weeks with a hamstring injury. However, his Ballon d’Or win last year was catapulted by a run of form that started in the winter months. With Paris Saint-Germain and France in contention for the big prizes again, he could feature prominently. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});Harry Kane – 7/1The leading scorer in Europe’s top five leagues as we head into the international break, Harry Kane has hit an incredible 18 goals for Bayern Munich in just 10 appearances.Kane has, arguably, never been better and appears a contender to become England’s first Ballon d’Or winner in 25 years. Bayern are strong favourites for the Bundesliga again, so it may take exploits in Europe – or with England – to catapult Kane into contention.Harry Kane’s start to the season has been absurd pic.twitter.com/toj1ddbQrl— B/R Football (@brfootball) October 6, 2025Captaining England to success at next summer’s World Cup would give Kane a real chance.Kylian Mbappe – 3/1There’s little doubt now that Real Madrid revolve around Kylian Mbappe. After a modest, by his standards, start, Mbappe ended his debut campaign in Spain as the winner of the European Golden Shoe for the first time. Team honours proved elusive, but Mbappe appears determined to right those wrongs.He’s scored 14 times in all competitions by October’s international break, bringing an electricity to his performances that lead some to argue he’s the world’s finest talent. Mbappe is yet to win the Ballon d’Or, but no doubt has the quality to do so.Kylian Mbappé has scored 14 goals in 10 matches in all competitions this season, his best start to a campaign in Europe. He’s also found the back of the net in each of his last nine games for club and country: vs. Ukraine vs. Iceland vs. Real Sociedad vs.… pic.twitter.com/kF3MPFqEjg— Squawka (@Squawka) October 6, 2025 (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});Lamine Yamal – 11/4Lamine Yamal missed out on a record-breaking Ballon d’Or in 2025, finishing as runner-up to Ousmane Dembele. At just 18, the back-to-back Kopa Trophy winner has established himself as one of the world’s best and a talismanic figure at Barcelona.The leading assist provider in La Liga last season, he was crucial to a domestic double for Barcelona. This season, he’ll be tasked with leading the Catalans and Spain to success. If triumphant in the big tournaments, he could break Ronaldo’s record as the youngest-ever Ballon d’Or winner.Read – Premier League Team of the Week – Kudus, Haaland, CaicedoSee more – Premier League Awards: Liverpool crisis, Kluivert’s crackerFollow The Football Faithful on Social Media:Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | YouTube | TikTokThe post The favourites to win the 2026 Ballon d’Or first appeared on The Football Faithful.