Real Madrid reportedly ready to do what they did for Ronaldo to ensure Kylian Mbappé win the 2026 Ballon d’Or

Kylian Mbappé's Ballon d'Or campaign is already gathering momentum, but there is another force working behind the scenes. Real Madrid have been here before, and the club appears ready to revisit a strategy that helped Cristiano Ronaldo win the award despite strong competition from Bayern Munich.Real Madrid have a plan for Mbappé's Ballon d'Or bidMadrid are reportedly preparing to put their full institutional weight behind Mbappé in the weeks leading up to the Ballon d’Or ceremony. The club is expected to call on some of its biggest former stars and most influential figures to publicly highlight the Frenchman’s case, keeping his individual achievements at the centre of the conversation as voting draws closer.According to L’Équipe, this kind of coordinated backing has been part of Madrid’s approach in previous Ballon d’Or campaigns. The club has previously relied on respected figures from its history to champion its leading candidate, using their reputations and influence to reinforce the argument being made on the pitch.Madrid employed a similar strategy in 2013, when Alfredo Di Stéfano, Emilio Butragueño, Carlo Ancelotti, Iker Casillas and Sergio Ramos all publicly backed Cristiano Ronaldo as he competed with Bayern Munich duo Franck Ribéry and Arjen Robben.Ronaldo ultimately won the award, despite not lifting a major team trophy that year. He collected 27.99 per cent of the vote, finishing ahead of Lionel Messi on 24.72 per cent and Ribéry on 23.36 per cent.Ribéry had entered the race after helping Bayern win the Champions League, Bundesliga and German Cup, but Madrid's campaign placed greater emphasis on Ronaldo's individual achievements.Bayern's position was also complicated by the presence of Robben as another candidate from the club, meaning Ribéry did not receive the same unified backing that Ronaldo enjoyed from Madrid.The club now reportedly believes there is value in using the same approach for Mbappé.Mbappé faces Kane and Yamal in a closely fought raceThe challenge for Mbappé is that his competition is particularly strong this year.Harry Kane is currently the bookmakers' favourite, with Lamine Yamal ahead of Mbappé in some of the latest odds, leaving the Real Madrid forward in third despite an outstanding individual campaign.Kane has perhaps the strongest statistical case of the three. No player scored more club goals during the 2025-26 season, with the Bayern Munich striker finding the net 61 times as his side won both the league title and German Cup.Mbappé's case, meanwhile, rests heavily on his own production and his standing as one of the world's most influential forwards.What makes his case especially strong, despite missing out on major silverware, is his complete individual dominance across every major competition. He finished the season as the top scorer in La Liga, the Champions League, and the World Cup, racking up an astonishing 58 goals and 13 assists in 61 matches for club and country.Most notably, he captured the 2026 World Cup Golden Boot with 10 goals, a feat that simultaneously crowned him as the all-time leading scorer in World Cup history with 22 career goals.Madrid cannot manufacture a Ballon d'Or-winning season for their star, and the final decision will still come down to the journalists casting their votes. What the club can do is make sure Mbappé's achievements remain impossible to overlook during the final weeks of the campaign.How the Ballon d'Or voting worksThe Ballon d'Or is awarded annually by France Football to the player judged to have been the best in the world over a single full season.The process begins with a 30-player shortlist, created by France Football and L'Équipe. One journalist from each of the top 100 FIFA-ranked nations then votes for their top 10 players.Points are awarded according to each journalist's ranking, with voters asked to consider three principal factors.Individual performances during the previous season come first, followed by the player's team performances and achievements at both club and international level. Fair play is the third consideration, with the winner also expected to represent the sport positively as an ambassador.Once voting closes, the points are added together and the players are ranked by their totals. If two players finish level on points, the player with the greater number of first-place votes wins.Madrid hope history can repeat itselfThe club's reported strategy is therefore less about changing the voting system than about making sure its preferred candidate remains at the centre of the conversation.When former Madrid greats repeatedly argue that Mbappé deserves the award, their voices carry the weight of the club's history as well as their own reputations within football.That was the thinking behind the Ronaldo campaign in 2013, when Madrid figures collectively pushed his individual case despite the strength of Bayern's trophy haul.The circumstances are different this time, with Kane's goal-scoring record and Yamal's emergence giving voters two compelling alternatives. Yamal's strongest argument is his World Cup triumph, while domestically, he anchored Barcelona as they successfully defended their La Liga title and won the Spanish Super Cup. He was also officially named La Liga Player of the Season. Mbappé will ultimately have to make the strongest case through his performances, and the journalists will decide whether that case is enough.Madrid, however, appear unwilling to leave the result entirely to chance.Get the latest Sports News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.