The chances of French and Real Madrid striker Kylian Mbappé in the race for the France Football Ballon d'Or 2026 have been bolstered after he finished the World Cup with 10 goals, as French newspaper L'Équipe indicated that Spain's title win could lead to a split in votes among several of its stars, which may benefit the French captain.

L'Équipe predicted that Spain's collective achievement at the 2026 World Cup would give Kylian Mbappé an indirect advantage in the Ballon d'Or race, with the possibility of voters dispersing their votes among several players from La Roja who performed outstandingly during the tournament.

Several names emerged as candidates for the award from the Spanish squad, led by Manchester City's Rodri, Barcelona's prodigy Lamine Yamal, along with Fabián Ruiz, who won the Champions League with Paris Saint-Germain.

The newspaper also stated that it conducted a poll involving more than 35,000 voters, which Kylian Mbappé topped with around 32% of the votes, followed by Rodri with 16%, and then Fabián Ruiz with 12.7%.

L'Équipe believes that the presence of more than one strong Spanish contender after winning the World Cup could lead to a distribution of votes among them, rather than concentrating around a single name, a scenario that could give Mbappé an advantage in the race for the 2026 World Player of the Year award.

Mbappé ended the season without winning any collective title with Real Madrid or the French national team, but he achieved a series of individual accomplishments, most notably winning the Golden Shoe as Europe's top scorer in the 2025-2026 season, after finishing as the top scorer in La Liga, in addition to winning the 2026 World Cup Golden Boot with 10 goals, two ahead of Lionel Messi.

The newspaper stressed that the Ballon d'Or criteria do not rely solely on the number of collective titles but also include individual performance, on-field impact, and consistency throughout the season, which could boost Mbappé's chances given the potential vote split among Spanish stars.

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