Thierry Henry explains why trophyless Mbappe deserves Ballon d'Or over Yamal, Kane

Henry, speaking after Mbappe pushed his case for the award, urged fans to review football history before making unfounded claims, emphasising that major team trophies are not the only metric for claiming the individual honour.

"People can say Kylian went trophyless, but it has already happened in history. People need to do their research. The Ballon d’Or has been won without any trophies,” Henry stated.

The 70th edition of the Ballon d’Or ceremony is scheduled for Monday, 26 October, at the iconic London Palladium.

Henry also shared his views on the other leading contenders.

“Harry Kane had a fantastic year scoring many goals, but if you ask people in Germany, the best player was Michael Olise.

"Even for England at the World Cup, Jude Bellingham was the best England player, not Kane,” he said.

“Kvaratskhelia wasn’t at the World Cup. Haaland had a fine World Cup and won another Golden Boot, but he is a little below the others.

Messi, who dominated the World Cup at 39-years-old, scoring 8 goals and laying on 4 assists, is expected to miss out after failing to get over the line with Argentina in the final.

"Lionel Messi would be guaranteed the Ballon d’Or if he won with Argentina, but unfortunately he didn’t win," Henry said.

For Henry, Mbappe’s individual brilliance across club and country makes him the clear choice, even ahead of Barcelona's Lamine Yamal, who is one of the strong contenders.