Jean-Pierre Papin wants a reminder sent to the Ballon d’Or favourite: he does not get to choose.

The 1991 winner spent Monday evening on France Télévisions picking apart Kylian Mbappé’s media campaign for the award. His central objection was blunt.

“The Ballon d’Or winner is decided by others,” Papin said, accusing Mbappé of chasing voters instead of letting a season of records speak for him.

“I really do admire Kylian, he holds records, but at a certain point it all becomes about me, me, me and myself.”

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Papin’s problem is not the player. It is the pitch. He described Mbappé’s effort as a communications operation that had tipped into excess, and singled out one claim from the France captain that he could not get past.

“At one point he said that nobody other than him deserved the Ballon d’Or. That was too much for me, far too much,” Papin told the broadcaster.

Papin’s pick is Harry Kane

The man Papin wants to see on the stage instead is Harry Kane. The England captain finished the 2025-26 season as a Bundesliga champion with Bayern Munich, where he was also the division’s top scorer, and reached a World Cup semi-final at the 2026 tournament before England lost in the semifinals to Argentina.

Ousmane Dembélé is the reigning holder, having won the 2025 Ballon d’Or after Paris Saint-Germain’s first Champions League triumph. Dembélé took that vote by 321 points over Lamine Yamal.

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Mbappé answers with records

Mbappé has an answer in numbers. He finished as the 2026 World Cup Golden Boot winner with 10 goals and, in France’s third-place playoff against England, scored twice to pass Lionel Messi and become the tournament’s all-time leading scorer with 22 goals. France still lost the match 6-4 and finished fourth.

He is also now France’s record international scorer on 64 goals, well clear of Olivier Giroud.

Papin’s point is that none of those records came with a major team trophy. France were knocked out by Spain in the semifinals and then lost the third-place playoff, which is the kind of balance Ballon d’Or voters have historically read in a candidate’s favour or against.

Monday 26 October at the London Palladium

The 70th edition of the Ballon d’Or will be presented on Monday, 26 October at the London Palladium, the first time the ceremony has moved out of Paris in its history. The venue is a nod to Stanley Matthews, the Englishman who won the inaugural award in 1956.

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Papin won the award in 1991 while playing for Marseille.

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