The attention of the soccer world will be fixed on London to start the week, where a months-old question will finally be answered: Who's going to win the Ballon d'Or? I'm Pardeep Cattry with a lookahead to Monday's ceremony, plus a preview of what's to come as action resumes in the EFL Cup.
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📺 Footy fix
All times U.S./Eastern
Monday, Oct. 26
🇫🇷 Ligue 1: Paris Saint-Germain vs. Lyon, 3:30 p.m. ➡️ beIN Sports
🏆 Ballon d'Or ceremony, 4 p.m. ➡️ DAZN
Tuesday, Oct. 27
🇮🇹 Serie A: Roma vs. Cagliari, 3:45 p.m. ➡️ Paramount+
🏴 EFL Cup: Fleetwood Town vs. Arsenal, 4 p.m. ➡️ Paramount+
⚽ The Forward Line
🏆 Surprises in store at the Ballon d'Or?
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo may no longer be the frontrunners for the Ballon d'Or, but their decades-long command over soccer's most prestigious individual accolade still colors the way we all look at the award. The air of mystery that should be a fixture in the run-up to an awards show still feels foreign, the ability to gauge the eventual winner a fresh challenge for many. That's especially true this year, particularly on the men's side, where none of the usual indicators apply.
A handful of deserving players make up the list of nominees once again, but none fit the prototype of an eventual Ballon d'Or winner, rightly or wrongly. The award often goes to the best player on a team that won the biggest prize on offer in the last year, a path that would lead you straight to Spain's golden ball winner, Rodri. The midfielder hardly feels like a slam-dunk pick after spending much of last season building his form following an ACL injury, which might lead you to a member of Paris Saint-Germain's UEFA Champions League-winning team. Vitinha, the Portuguese midfielder, might actually have a shot but there are buzzier names in the mix that are equally worthy. The favorite might actually be someone else entirely – Harry Kane, the England captain and Bayern Munich talisman who has steadily established himself as his generation's greatest goalscorer over the years. Here's James Benge on Kane's case in the final batch of Ballon d'Or power rankings.
- Benge: "Perhaps it was the endings to his tilts at the Champions League and World Cup that make it so hard to lock in on Kane as the best player in the world last season. If the 33-year-old really were that good, would he not have found a way to bend the biggest games in his direction? That semifinal against Argentina in particular was one of those late-summer Kane games where he looks too leggy to impact the game either in the penalty area or the midfield roles he drops into, usually with such success. That's one game, though. There are another 64 where he was frequently spectacular. A remarkable 73 goals for club and country is the sort of output that belonged back in Messi's prime years. The absolute biggest game may not have gone his way, but Kane was unforgettable against the Ivory Coast, thrilling in both legs against PSG and incisive in putting Real Madrid to the sword. Then there are the Bundesliga numbers. Gaudy output is the baseline for a Bayern striker against domestic opposition but still the only players to have bettered Kane's 36 goals in 31 league games are Gerd Muller and Robert Lewandowski. The former won the Ballon d'Or, the latter probably would have if it had been awarded in 2020. There is no reason why Kane should not get it this time."
There is no obvious candidate on the women's side, either, though Alexia Putellas might just be the favorite if the usual patterns apply. The voting body will be inclined to select someone from Barcelona's UEFA Women's Champions League-winning side and with three-time Ballon d'Or winner Aitana Bonmati out of the running after dealing with a broken leg last season, Putellas playing a central role with eight goals and six assists in Europe before leaving for London City Lionesses in the summer. She is one of eight members of that squad among the list of nominees, the list of 30 an eclectic selection of some of the world's best players. The NWSL's nominees include Temwa Chawinga, the league's back-to-back MVP with the Kansas City Current and the headliner for a Malawi side that made a run to the Women's Africa Cup of Nations, and U.S. women's national team standout Rose Lavelle, who scored the game-winner for Gotham FC in last year's NWSL Championship.
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