Carragher immediately talks down Kane's Ballon d'Or chances after World Cup heroics

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Jamie Carragher believes Harry Kane will probably not win the Ballon d'Or this year because of his England team-mates. He believes that the annual award will go to the star player of the team that wins the World Cup.

Carragher feels

Lionel Messi

will if

Argentina

retain their title, and sees either Kylian Mbappe or Michael Olise being in line if

France

win it. However, the pundit says that Kane is currently the most worthy recipient of the honour for 2026.

The striker is up to 72 goals this season for

Bayern Munich

and England after scoring twice for his country to turn around their round of 32 tie against the Democratic Republic of the Congo and take his tally for the tournament to five. However, that form coinciding with a World Cup could ultimately hinder his chances of earning individual accolades, according to ex-England star Carragher.

Carragher wrote in

The Telegraph

: "If the vote for the Ballon d'Or was being held right now, Kane would be the worthy winner, his heroics for England against

DR Congo

absorbing his 72nd goal of this season.

"Only Lionel Messi has recently hit those kinds of numbers. Not even

Cristiano Ronaldo

was so prolific in one campaign."

He added: "Based on the past 12 months, Kane should win the Ballon d'Or. Unfortunately, he probably won't because in a World Cup year, it is bound to go to the star player of the winning nation. Much as I want to believe England can still win it, there is nothing to support that opinion, especially after recent performances.

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"If Argentina retain the cup, Messi will win the Ballon d'Or. If France win the competition, one of their key men will get it. Kane's Bayern team-mate Michael Olise is a strong contender, and even though, by Kylian Mbappe's standards, he has had a frustrating year with his club, that will be forgotten when judged against his fantastic World Cup displays.

"Another of the Paris St-Germain stars might be celebrating a personal accolade, even though their

Champions League

win felt more of a team effort than the consequence of one outstanding contribution. Ousmane Dembele has enjoyed another fantastic season.

"Kane's goal output is beyond them all. He is performing at the same level as France's best and Messi, going toe-to-toe in the Golden Boot race."

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Carragher is correct that Messi won the Ballon d'Or for an eighth time months after leading Argentina to the World Cup. However, that is an outlier in recent times.

Luka Modric lost the 2018 final before ending a decade of dominance by Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi, as Antoine Griezmann and Mbappe finished third and fourth, respectively, despite helping France to the title. Messi and Ronaldo also never won the tournament during their ten years passing the trophy back and forth.

Therefore, Messi was the first player to win the Ballon d'Or after World Cup success in 17 years, since Fabio Cannavaro, who won it in 2006. However, at that time, the defender was the third consecutive

world

champion to win it, following Zinedine Zidane in 1998 and Ronaldo in 2002.

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