Real (Madrid) star Kylian Mbappe was officially elected the best footballer in Europe, winning the prestigious "Golden Onze" (Onze d'Or) award. The traditional award has been presented annually by the French magazine Onze Mondial since 1976 and is one of the most respected individual awards in the football world.
The 27-year-old French striker had an exceptional 2025/26 season with the Real (Madrid) team, in which he scored an impressive 40 goals. Mbappe triumphed with the award for the first time in his career, collecting an absolute 48.2% of the votes of fans and experts, after having reached third place three times in previous editions. The three players of the year were completed by two players from Paris Saint-Germain — midfielder Joao Neves with 11.9% and Georgian winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia with 10.8%. In the ranking, they were followed by Lamine Yamal (7.5%), Harry Kane (4.4%), Michael Oliseh (2.9%), Vitinya (2.8%), Declan Rice (1.1%) and Bruno Fernandes (0.7%).
Mbappe's success comes at an extremely important moment, as the historical holder of the “Golden Onz“ very often grabs the “Golden Ball“. The ceremony for the awarding of the most valuable individual trophy in football is coming up in just a week in London, and the French top scorer is considered one of the main favorites.
For the previous season 2024/25, the Onze Mondial award went to Ousmane Dembele. The record holder for the number of awards won in the history of the poll remains Lionel Messi with four statuettes, followed by Zinedine Zidane and Michel Platini with three each, while Cristiano Ronaldo has won the prize twice.