Aurelien Tchouameni believes the winner of this year's Ballon d'Or should be a player from France, with Kylian Mbappe, Michael Olise and Ousmane Dembele his favourites.
Tchouameni backs Mbappe, Olise or Dembele for Ballon d'Or glory
The winner of the Ballon d'Or will be announced later this month, and Real Madrid's Aurelien Tchouameni has picked his top three candidates.
The winner of the prestigious individual award will be announced on October 26, with Bayern Munich's Harry Kane and Barcelona's Lamine Yamal among the top contenders.
Mbappe has also been predicted to challenge for his first Ballon d'Or crown, despite failing to win any silverware with Real Madrid during the 2025-26 campaign.
Mbappe registered 43 goals in 47 appearances in all competitions for Los Blancos last season, then carried his stellar form into a record-breaking World Cup this summer.
He made history by becoming the competition's all-time top scorer with 22 goals, while Mbappe's 14 goal involvements (10 goals, four assists) were also the most at a single edition of the World Cup on record (since 1966), though France could only finish fourth.
Olise, meanwhile, ended the Bundesliga season with 34 goal involvements (15 goals, 19 assists), a new record for a winger since Opta data collection began in the German top flight in 2004-05, as Bayern Munich won the league title and the DFB-Pokal.
He, too, had an impressive World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico, becoming the first player on record (since 1966) to register seven assists at a single edition.
Ballon d'Or holder Dembele saw his 2025-26 season disrupted by injuries, but he still managed to record 34 goal involvements (22 goals, 12 assists) in all competitions as Paris Saint-Germain retained their Champions League crown and won Ligue 1.
Lionel Messi was the last player to win back-to-back Ballon d'Or awards in 2019 and 2021, though Tchouameni expects a French player to scoop the title this time around.
"The Ballon d'Or must go to a French player, obviously," Tchouameni stated during an interview with France24.
"Kylian had an exceptional season, Ousmane too, by winning the Champions League with PSG, and, of course, Michael Olise."
France have five players in contention for the Ballon d'Or, with Bayern's Dayot Upamecano and Arsenal's William Saliba also nominated after fine individual campaigns.
Spain are the best represented nation after winning the World Cup, with Yamal, Pau Cubarsi, Marc Cucurella, Rodri, Fabian Ruiz and Ferran Torres making the 30-man shortlist.
PSG have 10 players all up for nomination, with Fabian the only player to win both the Champions League and World Cup, putting him in with an outside shot of an unlikely win.
Kane, however, is tipped to become the first Englishman to win the Ballon d'Or since Michael Owen in 2001 after a sensational season with Bayern.
He plundered 65 goals across all competitions for Vincent Kompany's side, before hitting six more to help England finish third at the World Cup, the final tournament to fall in the 2026 Ballon d'Or eligibility period.
No other player from Europe's top five leagues scored more than 50 goals in all competitions last term, with Mbappe netting a half-century for LaLiga giants Madrid.
Yamal won LaLiga with Barcelona and scored 16 goals in the league, the joint-fourth highest tally in the division. His 225 completed dribbles were also more than any other player across Europe's top five leagues.
At 19 years and six days, Yamal also became the third-youngest player to play in a World Cup final, after Pele in 1958 (17y 249d) and Giuseppe Bergomi in 1982 (18y 201d), going on to help Spain defeat Argentina 1-0 at MetLife Stadium.
