On Tuesday, the eyes of world football are turning to revealing the list of nominees for the 2026 Ballon d'Or, amid an open race whose features have been reshaped by the World Cup and which have pushed a number of stars to the forefront of nominations and expectations in recent weeks.
The official website of the Golden Globe Award confirmed that the names of the nominees will be revealed on September 8, before the 70th edition of the award ceremony is held in London, on October 26.
Hours before the announcement, the name of Englishman Harry Kane appeared strongly in international coverage.
Sports Illustrated magazine placed the Bayern Munich striker among the most prominent names in the discussion about the award, after he scored six goals in seven matches with England in the World Cup, in addition to his remarkable tally at the club level.
In a report published on Monday, press reports dealt with the Ballon d'Or race before the list of 30 was revealed, and focused on Rodri, Kylian Mbappe and Harry Kane among the most prominent names in the discussion. It also shed light on the voting mechanism and the period during which the players' achievements are counted when choosing the winner.
On the other hand, Spaniard Lamine Yamal imposed himself as a prominent competitor after Spain won the World Cup, on a list that also included Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi, Rodri, Ousmane Dembélé, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, and Erling Haaland.
The forecast markets monitored by press reports this week indicate that Kane is at the top, followed by Yamal and then Mbappe, while Rodri and Kvaratskhelia are equal in the published indicators, and Messi, Dembele and Michael Oliseh appear among another group of traded names.
These numbers remain indicators of the betting markets and are not a reflection of the award vote.
Rodri also entered the discussion strongly after Spain won the World Cup, while Kvaratskhelia stands out among the names whose shares have risen in the media discussion in recent weeks.
Between the club season and the impact of the World Cup, Tuesday’s list appears to be the first real test of the competition map, before the countdown begins to determine the successor to Frenchman Ousmane Dembélé, who will be crowned with the Ballon d’Or in 2025.
The Inter Milan striker, who was on the bench throughout the 2026 World Cup, and during the Italian League since the start of the season, scored his first goal in four months, Saturday, in the Serie A match against Napoli (3-2), before facing Real Madrid on Tuesday in the Champions League.
According to his teammates and coach, Thuram never lost his usual smile or his sense of humor.
But watching him celebrate the equalizer against Napoli, on Saturday, and then with a thrilling 3-2 victory after he joined his companion on the front line, Argentine Lautaro Martinez, at the fence behind the San Siro goal to be as close as possible to the fans, makes it impossible not to feel a feeling of relief, but rather of “psychological” liberation after painful weeks.
The “Blue” striker said: “I wanted to score, but what I wanted more was to be able to help my team,” before calling, as usual, on his colleagues and followers to be realistic “by dealing with the matches one by one.”
Inter is anticipating a tough challenge ahead against Real Madrid, led by Thuram's compatriot Kylian Mbappe, at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, launching its quest to make amends in the most glorious of European cups, a few months after a disappointing elimination from the round of 16 qualifying round against Bodo Glimt of Norway.
It is uncertain whether the 29-year-old will be a key player in this confrontation.
Since the beginning of the season, his Romanian coach, Christian Chivo, has preferred over him the young Francesco Pio Esposito (21 years old), who is seen as the new phenomenon of Italian football, which is going through a crisis, and who recently signed an extension of his contract with the club until 2032.
- An orphan minute with “Blue” -
Like all the other international players who participated in the 2026 World Cup, Thuram resumed training late, in mid-August.
The eldest son of retired French national team defense icon Lilian Thuram, who previously played for Sochaux (2016-2017), Guingamp (2017-2019) and German club Borussia Mönchengladbach (2019-2023), returned to the training center in Appiano Gentile with eroded confidence.
The reason is due to the World Cup in North America, which he experienced from afar, like any spectator, as he remained on the bench for the two-time world champion, due to an injury in his calf.
He only had one minute against the Iraqi team in the group stage.
In light of the brilliance of Michael Oliseh, Ousmane Dembélé, Mbappe, Desiree Doue and Bradley Barkola, the striker, who has 35 international matches and three goals, could not aspire to more than the role of a reserve player at best, but this disappointing World Cup brought back to the forefront the debate about a player who “disappears” in crucial matches and major dates.
As for the Lombard club officials, they have no doubts. Although Kefu admits that “Thuram is behind” on the physical level, he still sees him, at least for this season, as the natural partner (in attack) for Martinez.
Their partnership began in 2023 by making a difference: in three seasons, the “Ticos” duo, as they are nicknamed, scored 40 goals in the league, and won two Italian Championship titles (2024, 2026), the Local Cup (2026), and the Italian Super Cup (2023).
It remains for Inter to overcome the shock of the completely disappointing 2025 Champions League final against Paris Saint-Germain (0-5), and for Thuram to also turn the page on the summer of 2026, which he spent in the shadows.
Paris Saint-Germain is in a late position, and is narrowly ahead of the relegation places in the French Football League.
Paris Saint-Germain, the Champions League champion, made a very poor start in the French League this season, and is only one point ahead of seventeenth place in the league, which includes 18 teams.
Paris Saint-Germain only got two points from three matches, and they could have gotten even less than that, as the defending champion had to come back twice from a two-goal deficit to achieve a draw, and even needed an equalizer in the final seconds of stoppage time against Lille on August 28.
But luck did not favor him in his loss at home to Monaco, with a score of 1-2, last Friday, a defeat that left the defending league champions in thirteenth place, which is an unusual position for them.
This was the fourth match in a row that PSG failed to win, including a 0-1 loss to Lens in their French Super Cup opener. In that match, Lance played the entire second half with ten players after one of his players was sent off.
Paris Saint-Germain's start to the local season was disastrous; It did not achieve any victory, suffered two defeats, tied twice, and conceded seven goals.
An unexpected start for a team that defeated the best teams in Europe in the past two seasons, and presented a wonderful offensive performance, the best in years.
After the defeat against Monaco, Paris Saint-Germain's coach, Luis Enrique, remained steadfast in his position, stressing that his team deserved to win by a large margin. He also downplayed Paris Saint-Germain's seven-point deficit behind leaders Monaco.
He said: “If you want to bet on the champion of the season, we are ready to bet. Seven points? “Well, we will strive to rectify this situation as soon as possible.”
But Portuguese midfielder Joao Neves admitted that the team was not performing at its best, and Brazilian Filipe Luis, Monaco's new coach, confirmed the same thing.
Filipe Luis said: “Paris Saint-Germain is not at its best. We tried to put pressure on them in their front areas.”
Luis Enrique expressed his happiness with the summer transfer period, and thanked his club president, the Qatari Nasser Al-Khelaifi. Ferran Torres, the World Cup champion with Spain, the French winger Magnes Aclioch, and the promising Belgian player Mika Godets, joined Paris Saint-Germain.
Paris Saint-Germain will host the Slovakian team Slovan Bratislava, on Wednesday, in the Champions League, and it is in desperate need of a victory that will raise its morale.
