Anticipation is building for next Monday's Ballon d'Or ceremony. Two days before the winner is announced, several bookmakers have made striking changes to the leading contenders' odds.
Three players appear to be in the running for the prestigious individual award: Lamine Yamal, Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappé. Yamal scored sixteen goals and provided eleven assists in LaLiga last season as Barcelona convincingly retained the league title. The nineteen-year-old forward also won the Spanish Super Cup and helped Spain to the 2026 world title, an achievement that has often carried considerable weight with voters.
Kane, though, is by far the strongest candidate for the Ballon d'Or. The Bayern Munich striker scored no fewer than 73 times in 65 competitive matches last season. On Saturday, the Englishman has average odds of 1.35, making him the clear favourite.
For Yamal, the outlook has worsened considerably in just a few hours. Most major bookmakers have sharply raised their odds on the FC Barcelona star. The Barcelona prodigy's odds have jumped from 3.25 to 6.00, suggesting they now rate his chances of winning much lower.
Kane's recent victory in the vote for the so-called '100 MARCA' award could explain the shift. An international jury of journalists, former footballers and coaches bestows the honour. In total, 226 voters expressed their preferences by selecting fifteen players from a hundred nominees, with the player ranked first receiving thirty points, the second 25 and the third 23.
With 3,962 points, Kane topped the vote, just 25 ahead of Yamal, who finished on 3,937. Mbappé completed the podium with 3,440 points, followed by Rodri, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Lionel Messi, Fabián Ruiz, Michael Olise, Ousmane Dembélé and Pau Cubarsí.
If Yamal does win the Ballon d'Or on Monday, the nineteen-year-old right winger will become its youngest-ever winner. Former Barcelona striker Ronaldo holds that record after receiving the award in 1997 at the age of 21.