Golden Ball: “They should have rolled for Dembélé”, the editor-in-chief of France Football pays for PSG’s PR

“It was even tighter than between Rodri and Vinicius”: as expected, the 2026 Ballon d’Or was a no-brainer.

We thought he was undecided. He was. In view of the ranking, with the Parisians Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (6th), Ousmane Dembélé (7th) and Fabián Ruiz (10th) pushed out of the Top 5, the World Cup weighed heavily in the balance. Not enough to the taste of Lamine Yamal and his father... In the end, it was not even the world and Spanish champion who took second place, but Kylian Mbappé, top scorer in La Liga, the Champions League and the 2026 World Cup. Which Mbappé therefore failed less than 41 points behind Kane, as revealed by Vincent Garcia, editor-in-chief of France Football, interviewed on the L'Équipe channel.

According to him, the captain of the Blues and Real Madrid striker, however, had “a very good campaign. He was able to put in the minds of the jurors what he did, in a World Cup year where there were several favorites... but who perhaps did not tick all the criteria either,” he underlines.

Said Vincent Garcia also believes that “others had a less good campaign. And I'm thinking a little about Paris Saint-Germain. The Parisian players are double European champions, with “Kvara” sixth, defending champion Ousmane Dembélé seventh and Fabián Ruiz, tenth. PSG's communication may not have been very clear in trying to promote three players, then two. They should have rolled for Dembélé.

Claw swipe. In this case, it was not so simple: Khvicha Kvaratskhelia had still been the best player in the C1, by far the most consistent throughout the campaign. But he did not play in the World Cup, Georgia not being qualified... Ousmane Dembélé was heavily injured last season and hardly shone at the World Cup, despite advantageous statistics. With little chance of winning in a World Cup year, PSG did not want to take the risk of hurting egos for nothing. Last season, the Parisians chose to support the candidacy of “Dembouz”, even if boys like Vitinha and Achraf Hakimi could also have won. Different context. In any case, the message from the boss of FF has gotten through... The PSG communications will appreciate it.