PSG coach Luis Enrique reignited his push for a Ballon d’Or winner from within his own squad during his press conference on Thursday, ahead of the club’s Ligue 1 clash with Monaco.
The comments echo the stance he took last season, when he openly campaigned for Ousmane Dembele to win the award after PSG claimed their first-ever Champions League title, and come off the back of the club retaining that trophy this year. “I don’t care who wins the Ballon d’Or. But, in my opinion, it has to be a PSG player,” Luis Enrique said.
He pointed to several players within his squad as deserving candidates, citing their achievements over the past year. “We have players who have won the Champions League. We have Fabian Ruiz, who won the World Cup… Ousmane Dembele, who won the Ballon d’Or last season,” he continued, before adding: “That’s my opinion. But I’m not interested in individual awards, the most important thing is the collective”.
The 2026 Ballon d’Or will be awarded on October 26 at The London Palladium, with this year’s ceremony evaluating performances between July 2025 and July 19, 2026, a window that includes the World Cup final.
Who are the favorites to win the 2026 Ballon d’Or
Unlike previous years, there’s no clear frontrunner, with at least eight players in serious contention: Rodri, Lamine Yamal, Harry Kane, Kylian Mbappe, Jude Bellingham, Michael Olise, Dembele himself, and Lionel Messi.
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Rodri enters as a strong candidate after winning the World Cup with Spain and being named the tournament’s best player, while Kane dominated domestically with Bayern Munich, winning the Bundesliga and finishing as its top scorer with 36 goals in 31 games, despite falling short in the Champions League and World Cup semifinals.
Messi, meanwhile, also remains in the conversation after a standout World Cup at 39 years old, scoring eight goals in what statistically became his best tournament, and could become the first player to reach nine Ballon d’Or trophies if he wins it again.
