Jude Bellingham for Ballon d’Or? Sorry, here’s why he won’t win it
With every World Cup game that passes, Jude Bellingham‘s star is shining brighter.
His match-winning brace against Norway in the quarter-final highlighted how he might even have overtaken Harry Kane as England’s most influential player right now, even if it has mainly been a joint effort between the two of them this tournament.
And now some are starting to wonder: if England go all the way, could this be Ballon d’Or worthy from Bellingham?
The World Cup has a massive influence on who wins the Ballon d’Or. Think Lionel Messi in 2023 after Argentina’s World Cup win in December 2022, or Luka Modric winning it in 2018 after Croatia’s run to the semi-finals.
Thus, Bellingham could be coming into form at just the right time to get in contention for football’s biggest individual prize.
But there’s the catch. Acknowledging that he’s coming into form is acknowledging that he hasn’t quite been there all season.
The Ballon d’Or will be based on performances across the 2025-26 season for club and country. And at club level, Bellingham will have been disappointed with how things panned out at Real Madrid.
His third season with the Spanish giants was his worst so far for goal contributions. He only scored six goals and made four assists in La Liga as Madrid finished second.
In fact, they failed to win any trophy. The last time a Ballon d’Or winner was someone who hadn’t won a major trophy at club level that season was Cristiano Ronaldo for 2012-13 (Real Madrid did win the Supercopa de Espana in that timeframe, but you wouldn’t call the Community Shield a major trophy, would you?).
Thus, it may be that Bellingham is playing catch up too much in his belated Ballon d’Or push.
We can’t ignore the influence England winning the World Cup would have – and that will be a tough ask, with Argentina and then Spain or France to beat – but even so, it would be more likely to boost Kane’s chances of claiming the Ballon d’Or.
Kane had an extraordinary season at club level for Bayern Munich, scoring 61 goals as his side claimed a clean sweep of domestic trophies in Germany.
They could only reach the Champions League semi-finals, but that was still one round further than Real Madrid went. Thanks to those efforts, and considering he’s been useful at the World Cup too, Kane should be in pole position.
Something as big as the Ballon d’Or shouldn’t be reduced to such scientific measures. There has to be an element of feel to it. And nothing can quite boost vibes like an inspired World Cup campaign – which is certainly what Bellingham is experiencing right now.
In the grand scheme of things, though, it might just be too late for any serious chance of the Ballon d’Or. Not that he’ll mind if he gets his hands on the World Cup anyway.
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