Harry Kane is the overwhelming favourite among Express Sport readers to win the Ballon d'Or, with Lamine Yamal not even running him close. The winner of football's biggest individual prize is set to be announced at tonight's ceremony in London.
Kane, who plays for Bayern Munich, stands out in the numbers column with a staggering 73 goals for club and country, more than any of his fellow nominees. Yamal, however, appears to stand a good chance of beating the England striker, having won La Liga with Barcelona and the World Cup with Spain.
Readers' Poll Backs Kane
Express Sport readers believe the Bayern Munich striker fully deserves to win the Ballon d'Or, with a whopping 50 per cent of respondents to the latest poll backing him to lift the golden ball. In an interesting twist, Kylian Mbappe has been tipped to beat Yamal to second place.
Around 23 per cent of voters picked the Real Madrid striker, while only 18 per cent backed his Barcelona rival. Lionel Messi was the fourth most popular choice with five per cent of the vote, ahead of Jude Bellingham, Rodri and Michael Olise, who all received one per cent.
Kane's Record-Breaking Season
Players who win trophies with their teams have historically done well in the Ballon d'Or despite it being very much an individual award. As a result, there are fears that Kane could miss out despite having the best season of anybody on the list in terms of his own statistics.
It remains to be seen if Kane will prevail at tonight's Ballon d'Or ceremony, having already claimed that his tally of 73 goals last season should speak for itself. In an interview with Marca, he said: "I've never liked to talk about myself too much. The only thing I would say is that last season was incredible, on a personal level and as a team. It was, by far, the best season of my life."
He added: "It's true that to finish on 73 goals, the second-highest tally in history, speaks for itself. I'm extremely proud of that. I can only thank my team-mates and everyone who has helped me to make that possible. But the Ballon d'Or is not in my hands. It depends on the people that vote. From my point of view, last season is in the past. I'm now focused on this one and I'm eager to see what else I can achieve."
Kane concluded: "I know that people are going to speak a lot about the Ballon d'Or until October, because it's a big award."
