The Ballon d’Or is awarded to the world cup’s best player and the criteria is less subjective than the golden boot (top scorer), meaning that the “longest goal scorer” is more likely to end up holding this honour. The 2026 World Cup has entered the semi-final round as well France, Spain, In England and the defending champions In Argentina they are all still alive in the competition. France have been picked to win their third World Cup title and Kylian Mbappe, tipped to win the Golden Boot, is the best player for the golden ball. However, this race is very close according to the oddsmakers.
We’ll take a look at the latest Ballon d’Or 2026 World Cup odds on FanDuel and highlight which players to back ahead of the semi-finals on Tuesday, July 14 and Wednesday, July 15.
2026 World Cup Golden Ball odds (via FanDuel)
- Kylian Mbappe (+150)
- Lionel Messi (+200)
- Jude Bellingham (+440)
- Harry Kane (+900)
- Michael Olise (+1800)
- Lamine Yamal (+2200)
Mbappe and Messi each have eight goals, although the French star has one more assist than Messi going into the semi-finals. However, France has several other attacking players as well Ousmane Dembele, Bradley BarcolaOnce upon a time Desire Doue. Although both have 50 percent of their team’s goals in the competition, Dembele has five for France and Argentina’s second-highest scorer Lautaro Martinez has two. It is clear that Mbappe has a better supporting cast, but the wrinkle here is that Argentina have been stuck in the knockout stages. They look set to play a game or two before they are sent home, and Spain will need their best World Cup performance to finish off France. Les Bleus are more likely to reach the final, which would give Mbappe two more chances to shine. True football fans will highlight Olise as the creator of France’s devastating attack, but his numbers don’t quite stack up to his teammates for the respect.
If you believe that England will knock off Argentina, Bellingham offers great value in this market. He has scored six goals, including four in the last two games. Kane runs here too but Bellingham’s goals have come in big situations. Both have one assist, though Bellingham gets more credit for trailing defensively.
Yamal was seen as one of the tournament’s potential stars after his run at Euro 2024 but did not make a strong start to the tournament while recovering from a hamstring injury. However, his stock will rise significantly if Spain upset France. I wouldn’t insist on that, although La Furia Roja have only conceded one goal so far in this tournament.
Mbappe appears to be the favorite as the favorite to win the Golden Boot, but Messi and Bellingham are better options in terms of value. One of these two will play in the final, and I would place a bet on it depending on which team you think will win that semi-final. It’s hard to pick against Argentina despite their struggles so, I’d back Messi to pick up his third Golden Ball honour.
require.config({“baseUrl”:”https://sportsfly.cbsistatic.com/fly-709/bundles/sportsmediajs/js-build”,”config”:{“version”:{“fly/components/accordion”:”1.0″,”fly/components/alert”:”1.0″,”fly/components/base”:”1.0″,”fly/components/carousel”:”1.0″,”fly/components/dropdown”:”1.0″,”fly/components/fixate”:”1.0″,”fly/components/form-validate”:”1.0″,”fly/components/image-gallery”:”1.0″,”fly/components/iframe-messenger”:”1.0″,”fly/components/load-more”:”1.0″,”fly/components/load-more-article”:”1.0″,”fly/components/load-more-scroll”:”1.0″,”fly/components/loading”:”1.0″,”fly/components/modal”:”1.0″,”fly/components/modal-iframe”:”1.0″,”fly/components/network-bar”:”1.0″,”fly/components/poll”:”1.0″,”fly/components/search-player”:”1.0″,”fly/components/social-button”:”1.0″,”fly/components/social-counts”:”1.0″,”fly/components/social-links”:”1.0″,”fly/components/tabs”:”1.0″,”fly/components/video”:”1.0″,”fly/libs/easy-xdm”:”2.4.17.1″,”fly/libs/jquery.cookie”:”1.2″,”fly/libs/jquery.throttle-debounce”:”1.1″,”fly/libs/jquery.widget”:”1.9.2″,”fly/libs/omniture.s-code”:”1.0″,”fly/utils/jquery-mobile-init”:”1.0″,”fly/libs/jquery.mobile”:”1.3.2″,”fly/libs/backbone”:”1.0.0″,”fly/libs/underscore”:”1.5.1″,”fly/libs/jquery.easing”:”1.3″,”fly/managers/ad”:”2.0″,”fly/managers/components”:”1.0″,”fly/managers/cookie”:”1.0″,”fly/managers/debug”:”1.0″,”fly/managers/geo”:”1.0″,”fly/managers/gpt”:”4.3″,”fly/managers/history”:”2.0″,”fly/managers/madison”:”1.0″,”fly/managers/social-authentication”:”1.0″,”fly/utils/data-prefix”:”1.0″,”fly/utils/data-selector”:”1.0″,”fly/utils/function-natives”:”1.0″,”fly/utils/guid”:”1.0″,”fly/utils/log”:”1.0″,”fly/utils/object-helper”:”1.0″,”fly/utils/string-helper”:”1.0″,”fly/utils/string-vars”:”1.0″,”fly/utils/url-helper”:”1.0″,”libs/jshashtable”:”2.1″,”libs/select2″:”3.5.1″,”libs/jsonp”:”2.4.0″,”libs/jquery/mobile”:”1.4.5″,”libs/modernizr.custom”:”2.6.2″,”libs/velocity”:”1.2.2″,”libs/dataTables”:”1.10.6″,”libs/dataTables.fixedColumns”:”3.0.4″,”libs/dataTables.fixedHeader”:”2.1.2″,”libs/dateformat”:”1.0.3″,”libs/waypoints/infinite”:”3.1.1″,”libs/waypoints/inview”:”3.1.1″,”libs/waypoints/jquery.waypoints”:”3.1.1″,”libs/waypoints/sticky”:”3.1.1″,”libs/jquery/dotdotdot”:”1.6.1″,”libs/jquery/flexslider”:”2.1″,”libs/jquery/lazyload”:”1.9.3″,”libs/jquery/maskedinput”:”1.3.1″,”libs/jquery/marquee”:”1.3.1″,”libs/jquery/numberformatter”:”1.2.3″,”libs/jquery/placeholder”:”0.2.4″,”libs/jquery/scrollbar”:”0.1.6″,”libs/jquery/tablesorter”:”2.0.5″,”libs/jquery/touchswipe”:”1.6.18″,”libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.core”:”1.11.4″,”libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.draggable”:”1.11.4″,”libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.mouse”:”1.11.4″,”libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.position”:”1.11.4″,”libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.slider”:”1.11.4″,”libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.sortable”:”1.11.4″,”libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.touch-punch”:”0.2.3″,”libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.autocomplete”:”1.11.4″,”libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.accordion”:”1.11.4″,”libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.tabs”:”1.11.4″,”libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.menu”:”1.11.4″,”libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.dialog”:”1.11.4″,”libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.resizable”:”1.11.4″,”libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.button”:”1.11.4″,”libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.tooltip”:”1.11.4″,”libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.effects”:”1.11.4″,”libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.datepicker”:”1.11.4″}},”shim”:{“liveconnection/managers/connection”:{“deps”:[“liveconnection/libs/sockjs-0.3.4″]},”liveconnection/libs/sockjs-0.3.4”:{“exports”:”SockJS”},”libs/setValueFromArray”:{“exports”:”set”},”libs/getValueFromArray”:{“exports”:”get”},”fly/libs/jquery.mobile-1.3.2″:[“version!fly/utils/jquery-mobile-init”],”libs/backbone.marionette”:{“deps”:[“jquery”,”version!fly/libs/underscore”,”version!fly/libs/backbone”],”exports”:”Marionette”},”fly/libs/underscore-1.5.1″:{“exports”:”_”},”fly/libs/backbone-1.0.0″:{“deps”:[“version!fly/libs/underscore”,”jquery”],”exports”:”Backbone”},”libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.tabs-1.11.4″:[“jquery”,”version!libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.core”,”version!fly/libs/jquery.widget”],”libs/jquery/flexslider-2.1″:[“jquery”],”libs/dataTables.fixedColumns-3.0.4″:[“jquery”,”version!libs/dataTables”],”libs/dataTables.fixedHeader-2.1.2″:[“jquery”,”version!libs/dataTables”],”https://sports.cbsimg.net/js/CBSi/app/VideoPlayer/AdobePass-min.js”:[“https://sports.cbsimg.net/js/CBSi/util/Utils-min.js”]},”map”:{“*”:{“adobe-pass”:”https://sports.cbsimg.net/js/CBSi/app/VideoPlayer/AdobePass-min.js”,”facebook”:”https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js”,”facebook-debug”:”https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/all/debug.js”,”google”:”https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js”,”google-csa”:”https://www.google.com/adsense/search/async-ads.js”,”google-javascript-api”:”https://www.google.com/jsapi”,”google-client-api”:”https://accounts.google.com/gsi/client”,”gpt”:”https://securepubads.g.doubleclick.net/tag/js/gpt.js”,”hlsjs”:”https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/hls.js/1.0.7/hls.js”,”recaptcha”:”https://www.google.com/recaptcha/api.js?onload=loadRecaptcha&render=explicit”,”recaptcha_ajax”:”https://www.google.com/recaptcha/api/js/recaptcha_ajax.js”,”supreme-golf”:”https://sgapps-staging.supremegolf.com/search/assets/js/bundle.js”,”taboola”:”https://cdn.taboola.com/libtrc/cbsinteractive-cbssports/loader.js”,”twitter”:”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js”,”video-avia”:”https://sports.cbsimg.net/fly/js/avia-js/2.48.0/player/avia.min.js”,”video-avia-ui”:”https://sports.cbsimg.net/fly/js/avia-js/2.48.0/plugins/ui/avia.ui.min.js”,”video-avia-gam”:”https://sports.cbsimg.net/fly/js/avia-js/2.48.0/plugins/gam/avia.gam.min.js”,”video-avia-hls”:”https://sports.cbsimg.net/fly/js/avia-js/2.48.0/plugins/hls/avia.hls.min.js”,”video-avia-playlist”:”https://sports.cbsimg.net/fly/js/avia-js/2.48.0/plugins/playlist/avia.playlist.min.js”,”video-ima3″:”https://imasdk.googleapis.com/js/sdkloader/ima3.js”,”video-ima3-dai”:”https://imasdk.googleapis.com/js/sdkloader/ima3_dai.js”,”video-utils”:”https://sports.cbsimg.net/js/CBSi/util/Utils-min.js”,”video-vast-tracking”:”https://sports.cbsimg.net/fly/js/sb55/vast-js/vtg-vast-client.js”}},”waitSeconds”:300});
