Speaking to France Football, the 27-year-old said individual output should carry weight even without silverware. “I believe I can win it this year. It’s one of my goals, and a short-term one at that,” Mbappé said.
“People say I didn’t win a trophy (for club or country), but it’s an individual award. I’ve never seen a Ballon d’Or winner elected unanimously. Has anyone ever won with 100% of the vote? That means there’s always someone who thought the winner didn’t deserve it.”
Mbappé scored 15 goals in the Champions League and 25 in La Liga. At the World Cup he took his all-time tournament tally to 22, overtaking Lionel Messi as the competition’s leading scorer. France were knocked out 2-0 by Spain in the semi-finals.
“My idea of the Ballon d’Or comes from the Messi and Ronaldo era – you don’t give it to ordinary players, you give it to players who are different. I think I did things that were different this year, so I believe I can win it.”
Asked whether he would be a deserving winner, he was emphatic. “There was no player better than me. To score that many goals in the major competitions, where all the great players are, and of course at the World Cup, the biggest event, to become the competition’s all-time leading scorer – throughout my holidays, that was all people talked to me about.”
He added that taking the record from Messi made the feat “even more special”.
Mbappé also praised Zinedine Zidane, who has replaced Didier Deschamps as France coach. “For French people, he means a great deal – he’s a legend, he’s the nation’s ‘Zizou’, he represents elegance, greatness. He’s perhaps the player who most embodies the France team.”
The Ballon d’Or remains an individual prize. Mbappé’s case rests on volume in Europe’s biggest club competitions and a historic World Cup scoring record, even after a season without a team trophy.