Mbappe Has 22 World Cup Goals and No Trophy as Ballon d'Or Vote Looms

Kylian Mbappe has collected individual scoring records across the 2025-26 campaign but enters Monday's Ballon d'Or ceremony in London without a team trophy to his name. The award carries no cash prize, though it raises a player's market value and standing.

At the 2026 World Cup in North America, Mbappe claimed the Golden Boot for the second straight tournament and moved past Lionel Messi and Miroslav Klose on the all-time scoring list. He has 22 goals in 22 World Cup matches. Messi sits at 21 and Klose at 16. "Being the all-time top scorer in World Cup history, overtaking all the great legends in the history of the sport in the most important tournament there is, is something that really stands out," Mbappe said last month. Asked to name his vote, he said: "Myself."

His club numbers match the international record. He scored 25 league goals to take the La Liga Golden Boot and added 15 in the Champions League, where he also topped the scoring list. "I was top scorer in all the biggest competitions, and I think that this could be a good year for me, and I really feel it," he said. He left PSG for Real Madrid before the season began.

The gap in his case is silverware. Real Madrid finished second in La Liga under Xabi Alonso and then Alvaro Arbeloa, and lost to Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarterfinals. The club has now gone two seasons without a major trophy. France finished fourth at the World Cup, losing to Spain in the semifinal and to England in the third-place match.

Rival candidates collected team honors. Lamine Yamal won the World Cup with Spain and La Liga with Barcelona. Harry Kane won three trophies with Bayern Munich, among them the Bundesliga title. Mourinho, who manages Mbappe at Real Madrid, backed his forward: "We know who has made history this summer, and he's not from PSG or the Spanish national team."

Mbappe told the radio station RFI that individual output is what matters for this prize. "They won't announce a team in the envelope; they will announce a player," he said.

The record works against him. Every Ballon d'Or winner of the past decade lifted at least one trophy in the award year. Ousmane Dembele took the 2025 prize after PSG won its first Champions League title; Rodri won it in 2024 after Euro 2024 with Spain and the Premier League with Manchester City.

One case resembles his. Cristiano Ronaldo won in 2013 for Real Madrid with 66 goals across club and country, while Real finished second in the league and Portugal exited in the World Cup playoffs. Mbappe has nine Ballon d'Or nominations and a third-place finish in 2023.