Real Madrid superstar Kylian Mbappe lost out on the Ballon d'Or on Monday night, as Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane ended up lifting it instead. Mbappe was one of the three main favorites for the award, with Lamine Yamal ending up just behind the Frenchman to make the top three.
Mbappe genuinely felt ther was a huge chance for him to lift the trophy on Monday night, but it was not to be as Kane's 73 goal season was more than enough for the player to win the elusive award. It was ridiculously close between Kane and Mbappe, though, which is going to give Mbappe plenty more motivation that a Ballon d'Or win is very close for him.
Be that as it may, it would obviously be very disappointing for the Frenchman to not win the Ballon d'Or, which is an award many thought he would've won multiple times by now. Despite the entire world acknowledging him as the best player of this generation for the last five or six years, Mbappe has yet to win the award that proves that even once.
Kylian Mbappe would want to win the Ballon d'Or when he is more deserving of it
However, despite being rightfully disappointed with the result, Mbappe must realise there is a huge silver lining to not winning it.
Kane probably deserved it a bit more than any of the players who were in contention for the trophy. He had a record-breaking season and was very close to winning the Champions League as well as the World Cup, bowing out in the semi-finals in both competitions. Scoring that many goals as well as helping Bayern with so many things in the build-up proved that Kane was a one-of-one in many ways, and the win for him seems to be more acceptable than one for Yamal or Mbappe.
Had Mbappe won it, the narrative around everything would be that a player who was a brilliant performer all season, but never the best one or the most successful one, ended up winning the award because of the campaigning he did for himself. To many, that would not be the case, but others would genuinely think that.
Would Mbappe want an asterisk next to his Ballon d'Or win, similar to what Rodri had in 2024, or Lionel Messi in 202? Yes, he would want to win the award full stop, and worry about these things later, but Mbappe would probably want to win the award when he fully deserves to, when he is far and away the best player of that season, and is successful individually as well as with his team. That would give him more confidence and joy than a win with an asterisk.
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