"I have my opinion, but it doesn’t count for much" - Kylian Mbappe responds when asked if he's a contender for 2025 Ballon d'Or

Kylian Mbappe has opened up on his chances of winning the 2025 Ballon d'Or. The race for the top individual award in world football is heating up after an intense season.

Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) forward Ousmane Dembele is among the favorites to lift the award after a stunning campaign. The Frenchman helped his team secure a historic treble this season, including the highly coveted Champions League trophy.

Meanwhile, Barcelona duo Lamine Yamal and Raphinha are in the mix as well, after managing a domestic treble under Hansi Flick. The Brazilian registered a career-best return of 34 goals and 25 assists from 57 games across competitions. Yamal was also in blistering form, scoring 18 goals and setting up 25 more from 55 games across competitions.

Interestingly, Kylian Mbappe is in the mix as well after a brilliant debut campaign, where he scored 43 goals and registered five assists from 56 outings for Real Madrid. However, speaking to RMC Sport, the Frenchman insisted that he can only influence the Golden Boot race, and not the Ballon d'Or.

“Am I a contender for the Ballon d’Or? I have my opinion, but it doesn’t count for much. The only award I can influence is the Golden Boot, because that depends on my feet. The Ballon d’Or doesn’t depend on me,” said Mbappe.

The 26-year-old won the European Golden Shoe for the first time in his career after scoring 31 league goals from 34 games this season. Kylian Mbappe finished as the LaLiga top scorer as well, although his efforts were not enough to win Los Blancos the league.

Has Kylian Mbappe ever won the Ballon d'Or in his career?

Kylian Mbappe is yet to win the Ballon d'Or in his career. The Frenchman finished third behind winner Lionel Messi and Erling Haaland in 2023, his only podium finish.

However, Mbappe has won the acclaimed Kopa Trophy in its inaugural year in 2018. The former PSG forward had powered France to the FIFA World Cup that year and established himself as the new superstar of football.

Mbappe also helped Les Bleus reach the 2022 FIFA World Cup final, where his team were undone by Lionel Messi's Argentina. The French superstar left the Parisians last summer as a free agent to complete his highly anticipated move to Real Madrid. He has since won the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Intercontinental Cup with Los Blancos.

About the author

Deepungsu is a veteran football journalist who has been covering daily transfer roundups and news for over six years at Sportskeeda. He has written over 9000 articles for the website, and has garnered close to 20 million reads.

Deepungsu holds a PG degree in Microbiology and an MBA degree in Total Quality Management. He has an extensive two-decade long writing experience, which includes a decade of sports blogging. His writing prowess has even led his work getting cited on the legendary Franz Beckenbauer's Wikipedia page.

Inspired by Diego Maradona, Deepungsu played as an attacking midfielder for his local club at subdivision level in his initial years and scored an important goal or two. However, his all-time favorite footballer is Lionel Messi, and evidently, he feels Argentina's glory in 2022 is his favorite FIFA World Cup moment for fulfilling his long-standing dream. He is also an ardent East Bengal fan.

Deepungsu has been a Manchester United supporter since the year 2000. Unsurprisingly, his favorite manager is Sir Alex Ferguson and the Scotsman helped him get through some of the toughest days of his life. Like the fiery Scot, Deepungsu also leaves no stone unturned when it comes to accuracy in articles and only relies on credible sources.

Despite believing in Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland to create an iconic rivalry, Deepungsu reckons no one can match the longevity of Messi and Ronaldo. He spends his leisure time writing about life on his blog, reading books, and playing the guitar.

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Edited by Aditya Singh