Aitana Bonmati has spent her career proving what greatness looks like in women’s football, picking up the Ballon d’Or Feminin three years running from 2023-2025, and establishing herself as one of the sharpest football minds in the game today.

Few players understand the demands of winning individual honours quite like she does, which is exactly why her opinion on the men’s race carries weight. So when she’s asked to weigh in on who should take home the men’s award, it’s worth paying attention.

With the World Cup now in the rearview mirror and the race for the Ballon d’Or heating up, Bonmati offered her take on which players truly earned the right to be crowned the best in the world this year, landing on three names that reflect just how open this year’s race has become.

Aitana Bonmati’s Three Ballon d’Or Picks Explained

Speaking to Mundo Deportivo via Barca Blaugranes, the 28-year-old immediately floated Rodri and Lionel Messi as two players who caught her eye during the tournament, with her admiration for Messi stemming from his ability to still perform at such a high level heading into his 40s.

She then turned to a more unexpected choice: Barcelona’s young defender, Pau Cubarsi. It’s a bold pick, given how rarely defenders are recognised with football’s most prestigious individual honour.

Bonmati justified the selection by referencing history, noting that Fabio Cannavaro once claimed the Ballon d’Or as a centre-back off the back of a World Cup win:

In her eyes, Cubarsi’s standout performances throughout the tournament put him in similar territory, making him a legitimate dark horse for the award.

Where the Bookmakers Stand on the Ballon d’Or

England’s Harry Kane looks worried via REUTERS/Peter Cziborra

Bonmati’s shortlist doesn’t quite line up with the current betting markets. Harry Kane holds a narrow edge as favourite heading into the announcement, largely on the back of a prolific season in front of goal for Bayern Munich, with Lamine Yamal, World Cup Golden Ball winner Rodri, Kylian Mbappe and Messi rounding out the group closely behind him.

Interestingly, Rodri and Messi appear on both lists, suggesting Bonmati’s instincts aren’t too far removed from the wider consensus, even if Cubarsi remains something of an outlier.

Fans won’t have to wait too much longer to find out who takes home the prize, with the winner set to be revealed on the 26th of October.

The race for the 2026 Ballon d’Or is really heating up, with some of the biggest stars on the planet staking a serious claim with incredible performances at the World Cup.

The likes of Lionel Messi and Rodri, who both played in the final, have dragged themselves into the discussion after being overlooked prior to the biggest international competition in the world. Elsewhere, Kylian Mbappe and Harry Kane continued their impressive club form during the tournament.

But there isn’t a clear front-runner, which was often the case during Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo’s decade of dominance. To try and find the clear favourite, a formula has been put together to rank the 12 favourites in order.

Ballon d’Or Study Explained

A Reddit user has come up with a formula that takes several metrics into account, such as goals + assists, POTS awards and trophies.

The formula has been explained by the user: “There has been a lot of discussion about who deserves this year’s Ballon d’Or, so I wanted to put the main contenders side by side. I collected some of the most important statistics and achievements to compare 12 of the current favourites.

“The graphic compares their goals, assists, goal contributions, trophies, all-competition Player of the Match awards and major individual honours. Gold, silver and bronze highlight the top three in each category.

“It also uses a simple weighted model – 40% G+A, 20% POTM, 20% trophies, 12% Player of the Season/Tournament awards and 8% Golden Boots – to produce a provisional ranking.”

It admittedly favours attacking players with goals and assists playing a big part, as they continued: “This ranking naturally favours attackers, which applies to almost all of the listed favourites apart from Rodri. His attacking output should therefore be largely disregarded in the Ballon d’Or discussion, but I still felt obliged to include him because of his overall influence and place among the leading candidates.”

Lionel Messi Deserves Second-Place Ballon d’Or Finish

Credit: Jerome Miron (IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters)

Messi, an eight-time winner of the award, falls just short of first place in this study. The Inter Miami forward narrowly missed out on the World Cup Golden Ball despite netting eight goals at 39 years old, and the Argentina icon would have to settle for second place again.

But that still puts him a lot higher than the man who beat him to being named the World Cup’s best player, Rodri. The Spaniard finishes dead last in these rankings despite some wonderful displays on world football’s biggest stage. As previously mentioned, the model leans towards attacking players, so the Man City stalwart only manages a 25.8 score out of 100.

That puts him behind the likes of Deniz Undav (33.0), Luis Diaz (41.0) and even Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes (41.8). The latter did break the Premier League’s all-time assist record in a single season this year, but he’s hardly been mentioned in the Ballon d’Or conversation.

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia is in eighth, most likely held back by Georgia’s failure to qualify for the World Cup this summer. However, he only just scores less than Real Madrid hero Kylian Mbappe and his PSG teammate Ousmane Dembele.

Elsewhere, Lamine Yamal and Erling Haaland narrowly miss out on places on the podium. Both had big World Cup tournaments and managed impressive goal and assist hauls over the season. Yamal got 45, while Haaland registered 69 for club and country.

That leaves two Bayern Munich stars in the top three alongside Messi. Michael Olise broke Pele’s assist record in a single World Cup campaign (7), and manages to sneak into third spot here due to his impressive tally of 34 for club and country.

However, Olise and Messi are beaten to the crown by England’s talisman, Harry Kane. The 33-year-old smashed in 74 goals, which is one of the highest-scoring seasons of the 21st century. An Englishman hasn’t won the Golden Ball since Michael Owen in 2001, but Kane is certainly in the running after a brilliant club season and firing the Three Lions to their best World Cup finish since 1966.

A second nation has come out and defended Gianni Infantino in an eye-opening new statement about the FIFA president’s plans to sell stakes at the World Cup. The walls have begun to close in on the 56-year-old as his vision for football is far removed from most other leading figures within the sport.

UEFA has been among his most vocal opponents, having released a series of critical statements about his plans, with the latest calling on European nations to withdraw their vote for him to be re-elected in March’s crucial FIFA election. Infantino was previously tipped to win by a landslide, with no real opponent for his position emerging.

But after announcing his plans to sell stakes at the World Cup – which he has since made a U-turn on – his greed has given way to an almighty demise. However, that hasn’t stopped two nations from defending him still.

Second Nation Defends Gianni Infantino With Eye-Opening Statement

REUTERS/Brian Snyder

In a surprising statement that makes them the second to give Infantino their vote of confidence after the Czech Republic, Qatar wrote (see below):

v

Infantino’s FFE Plans Still Backfired Spectacularly

REUTERS/Lee Smith

FIFA had announced on Tuesday that it was seeking to launch FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), which would bring together the sale of FIFA’s commercial rights – including broadcasting, sponsorship, ticketing and licensing – with the operational delivery of its tournaments.

Infantino had then given football associations until September 19 to back his proposals to sell off part of FIFA to private investors with a £30.1m incentive to accept. But the controversial proposals received fierce criticism from UEFA, CONCACAF (the North American, Central American and Caribbean association) and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).

The backlash forced Infantino to abandon his plans, and he now faces the increasing threat of losing his position at football’s throne. His close relationship with Donald Trump were the first alarm bells following his decision to overturn Folarin Balgoun’s red card at the World Cup, but his incredible lack of care in trying to monopolise a working-class game should be the final nail in the coffin in any attempts to reconcile.