With the Ballon d'Or ceremony in London on Monday, October 26, Thibaut Courtois has made Kylian Mbappé his pick. The Real Madrid goalkeeper also questioned whether voters reward the best individual season or the biggest haul of trophies.

Courtois's Ballon d'Or case

Courtois told Sports Mole: "I think Kylian deserves it, but people vote according to their own logic." He then framed the award as a choice between silverware and pure level, asking: "Do we choose someone who has won titles or someone who has been above everyone else throughout the season, even without winning anything?"

His strongest point was about Mbappe himself. "I'm thinking particularly of Kylian. I believe that individually, nobody has been better than Kylian, but unfortunately, we didn't win anything collectively," Courtois said. Mbappe finished the 2026 World Cup as the leading scorer with 10 goals, while France finished fourth.

The trophy argument around Yamal

Courtois did not ignore the case for Lamine Yamal. He said Yamal had a slightly worse World Cup, but added that the Barcelona winger "won the World Cup, the league title with Barcelona and had a good year overall".

That contrast is the heart of the Ballon d'Or debate every year. Courtois is leaning toward the player he thinks was best over the season, but he is also spelling out why a different voter could land on Yamal after a year with trophies. Journalists from 100 countries vote for the men's prize, so the result is always shaped by what each one values most.

Courtois also pointed to Rodri's 2024 win as an example of how messy that judgement can be. "I thought it hadn't been his best year, even though he won the European Championship with Spain," he said, before adding that in the previous year, when City won the Champions League, he thought Rodri would have deserved it.

Real Madrid and Barcelona meet in El Clasico on Sunday, October 25, one day before the award is announced at the London Palladium.

Written by Daniel Hartley with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 4 outlets. How we work →