Ballon d’Or: Lamine Yamal First and Mbappé Sixth, According to CIES

Hours before the 2026 Ballon d’Or ceremony, the CIES Football Observatory ranked Lamine Yamal first, ahead of Michael Olise and Harry Kane. Lionel Messi placed fourth, Désiré Doué fifth and Kylian Mbappé sixth. The ranking considers players’ performances across eight areas of play, the quality of matches and results. Désiré Doué and Rodri made the CIES top 10 despite being absent from the official nominees list; Thierry Henry is set to announce the winner.