2026 World Cup reshapes race for Ballon d'Or and FIFA best‑player awards

The ongoing 2026 FIFA World Cup is influencing the competition for football’s top individual honours. Performances in the tournament are expected to sway the voting for the Ballon d’Or, scheduled for October, and the FIFA Best Player award, due in the months after the World Cup. Historically, World Cup success has boosted players such as Ronaldo (2002), Fabio Cannavaro (2006), Luka Modrić (2018) and Lionel Messi (2022) in the same award cycles.

Before the tournament, English striker Harry Kane and French winger Ousmane Dembélé were among the early favourites. The World Cup has already highlighted other contenders: Argentina’s Lionel Messi leads the scoring chart with five goals; France’s Kylian Mbappé and Norway’s Erling Haaland each have four, as does Brazil’s Vinícius Júnior, who also contributed assists. Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo, now 41, added two goals in the win over Uzbekistan, while England’s Harry Kane scored twice against Croatia. The competition for the Golden Boot and the tournament’s best‑player award is therefore extremely tight, with the performances of these stars likely to tip the balance in the upcoming individual award decisions.