With less than two weeks to go until the Ballon d'Or ceremony at the London Palladium on 26 October, Real Madrid forward Kylian Mbappe has emerged as the fans' favourite after taking 34.2% of the vote in a poll by French sports daily L'Equipe. Paris Saint-Germain forward Khvicha Kvaratskhelia came second with 24.3%, while Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane finished third on 8.6%. Lamine Yamal, Barcelona's 19-year-old star and a 2026 World Cup winner with Spain, missed out on the top three altogether, the biggest surprise of the poll.
Yamal still dominated the vote for the Kopa Trophy, awarded to the world's best under-21 player, collecting 43.3% to finish ahead of Pau Cubarsi and Warren Zaire-Emery. Mbappe's candidacy is built on goals, even though Real Madrid ended the season without a trophy: he finished as top scorer in La Liga with 25 goals and in the Champions League with 15, before adding 10 goals and the Golden Boot at the World Cup. The official vote by a jury of 100 journalists closed on 28 September, and the results will be revealed on 26 October.
