The World Cup is over, Spain are champions, and football’s attention has already shifted to the next big prize. The 2026 Ballon d’Or will be handed out on October 26 in London, and for once, nobody can call this race predictable. Lamine YamalYamal has gone from Ballon d’Or hopeful to outright favourite in the space of one summer, and it’s not hard to see why. If the voters want a World Cup winner who also dominated domestically, there’s no cleaner case than his. Still, in a field this open, a scoring record at the World Cup is not something voters can easily ignore.