Ballon d’Or betting guide: Harry Kane and Lamine Yamal battle to be favourite in Ballon d’Or odds

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AFP via Getty ImagesBryan Nicholson2 minutes agoLamine Yamal has taken over at the top of the 2026 Ballon d’Or betting, ousting Harry Kane as favourite on betting sites for the prestigious award.

The winner of football’s top individual honour will be unveiled on Monday, October 26th at the London Palladium Theatre, and we’ve got the latest Ballon d’Or odds, which give Yamal the edge over goal machine Kane.

Lamine Yamal and Harry Kane take up most of the Ballon d’Or betting book. The former gets the nod as favourite having played a big part in Spain’s World Cup win in the summer, while he also starred for a Barcelona side that won La Liga.

The market has moved in the direction of Yamal, with Kane having been the early favourite on football betting sites when the 30-man shortlist was announced.

The odds suggest it’s a two-horse race between Yamal and Kane with Kylian Mbappe next in the market, but having drifted significantly with some bookies offering 28/1 on the France forward claiming the top prize.

Lionel Messi still features high in the market on most betting apps, but is unlikely to make it win number nine. 2024 Ballon d’Or winner Rodri rounds out the top five in the Ballon d’Or odds after his exploits for Spain in the World Cup.

Yamal plays predominantly as a right winger for Barcelona and Spain. He scored 24 goals in 45 appearances for Barca last season as they won La Liga.

The 19-year-old then arguably underperformed at the World Cup after picking up an injury pre-tournament. He scored just once in 697 World Cup minutes for Spain and failed to notch an assist.

The much-hyped youngster has bagged 11 goals in all for his national side. Lamal was second to Ousmane Dembele for last year’s Ballon d’Or award.

Kane would become only the fifth Englishman to win the Ballon d’Or should he claim the trophy at the end of October. Michael Owen was the last player from the UK to do it in 2001. Kane once again enjoyed a stellar campaign on the biggest stage for the Three Lions, scoring six times for the World Cup bronze medalists.

Kane has set the football world alight since his move from Tottenham to Bayern Munich. The 33-year-old was top scorer in the Bundesliga last term, bagging 36 league goals as Bayern clinched the title, with his scoring exploits also earning him the Golden Shoe as Europe’s top hitman.

The French maestro played 769 minutes of France’s World Cup, amassing 10 goals and four assists, and claiming the Golden Boot for the second tournament in a row in the process. He had a ding-dong battle with Lionel Messi to be top goalscorer but pulled away in the end. Mbappe has been hit or miss at times but the 2025/26 season saw him at the top of his game.

Mbappe finished his last two La Liga campaigns for Real Madrid as top scorer, winning the “Pichichi”. He won the European Golden Shoe for the first time in his career with 31 league goals in the 2024/25 season and ended the 2025/26 campaign as top scorer in the Champions League with 15 goals.

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Winner of the prestigious award a record eight times, Messi never seems to get old and can’t be discounted here. He was as good as ever in the summer when leading World Cup holders Argentina to another final where they lost out to eventual champions Spain.

The 39-year-old scored eight times and assisted four times, while playing over 850 minutes for La Albiceleste in North America.

Rodri was first in pass completion rate at the World Cup where he won the Golden Ball having been voted best player of the tournament for the champions. After a stop-start season for Manchester City following a lengthy injury lay-off, the 6ft 3in defensive midfielder played 819 minutes for Spain and was a key cog in their winning machine.

Rodri won the Ballon d’Or in 2024. The 30-year-old moved home to Barcelona in the summer.

Sometimes Olise makes the headlines for the wrong reasons but on the pitch his football certainly does the talking. Olise won the award for most assists during the summer’s World Cup, breaking the previous record with seven assists recorded.

The Frenchman also assisted 20 times in the Bundesliga last season for Bayern Munich and scored 15 times for the German champions.

It seems strange to suggest that Ousmane Dembele and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia are underdogs to win the Ballon d’Or 2026, with both players instrumental in PGS’s back-to-back Champions League victories.

Dembele is the current holder of the Ballon d’Or and scored six times for France at the World Cup, where his nation went out in the semi-finals at the hands of Spain. The 29-year-old scored eight times in each of PSG’s last two Champions League-winning campaigns, including netting in last season’s final against Arsenal.

Kvaratskhelia’s lack of pedigree on the international stage is what is costing him a more realistic chance at winning the Ballon d’Or. The PSG winger is regarded as one of the best players in the world and the best player in Georgian history, yet is as big as 80/1 to win the Ballon d’Or.

Looking back at the recent history of Ballon d’Or winners suggests the bookmakers rarely get it wrong with who they place at the head of the market. Below are the last five winners of the Ballon d’Or and their betting odds on the night of the ceremony.

Punters can wager on the Ballon d’Or at the majority of betting sites, but the bookmakers below have been highlighted due to their range of football betting offers, including sign up bonuses that can be used to wager on any football market.

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