The 3 players both Lionel Messi & Cristiano Ronaldo have tipped to win the Ballon d’Or
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have won 13 of the last 15 Ballon d’Or awards and they have both agreed on three players who could win the prize in the future.
For many, winning the Ballon d’Or is the biggest individual accolade that you can win in football and for good reason. With the Messi and Ronaldo era now behind us, a new generation of players are set to fight it out for the award.
Having collected the thoughts of Messi and Ronaldo, here are the three players who they have both tipped to win the Ballon d’Or in the future.
Kylian Mbappe
This one should come as no surprise. Messi spent two years playing alongside Mbappe at PSG and the Frenchman has made it no secret that he idolises CR7.
Mbappe seems to have a good relationship with both of the former Ballon d’Or winners and he’ll no doubt be fixated on winning the award himself in the future.
Both Messi and Ronaldo have namechecked Mbappe as a future Ballon d’Or winner and given he’s now at Real Madrid, we’re almost certain that he’ll be in contention to win the award for the foreseeable future.
The closest he has come to winning it so far was in 2023 as he came third in the voting, behind Erling Haaland and Messi.
“There is no better place than Madrid to win titles,” Mbappe told reporters when discussing his aim to win the Champions League and Ballon d’Or. “But the key is to adapt well. If I do that, the rest will come naturally.”
TRY A QUIZ: Can you name every player to make the Ballon d’Or podium in Messi’s eight wins?
Erling Haaland
The Man City forward came close to winning the Ballon d’Or in 2023 on the back of a historic treble. However, Messi’s exploits in the World Cup ensured that he won his eighth Ballon d’Or.
Despite going head to head for the award last year, Messi has named the Norwegian robot as someone who can win the prestigious prize in the future.
Likewise, Ronaldo has also spoken about Haaland in glowing terms as he believes the 24-year-old is capable of winning the award at some stage in his career.
There can be no doubt that Ronaldo ranks as the best goalscorer of the modern generation, but if Haaland continues at his current rate, he could give the Portuguese superstar a run for his money.
While the Norwegian star doesn’t stand much of a chance of winning the award this year, he’ll definitely be in contention in the years to come.
Lamine Yamal
After a sublime breakthrough campaign in 2023-24, it’s simply impossible to ignore Yamal right now. The 17-year-old has been breaking all sorts of records and he seems to be getting better week in, week out.
For club and country, he’s already racked up 71 senior appearances which is impressive in itself. Now one of the first names on the team sheet at Barcelona and Spain, the sky is the limit for Yamal.
It’s not just the spectators who have taken notice of the Barcelona wonderkid either and both Messi and Ronaldo have namechecked him as a future Ballon d’Or winner.
Of course, it’s easy to get carried away when someone like Yamal breaks onto the scene at such a young age, but he absolutely looks like the real deal.