“The best player in the best team”: Toni Kroos would have had a surprising Ballon d’Or favourite without the World Cup

Naturally, the World Cup had a major influence on the outcome of the Ballon d’Or. A player singled out by Toni Kroos therefore had no chance.

"Nobody won absolutely everything. And in a World Cup year, it is even more special. The World Cup carries a lot of weight. If you look only at the season, I would have found Kvaratskhelia a very interesting choice," Kroos said on the podcast Einfach mal Luppen, which he hosts with his brother Felix.

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, the Paris Saint-Germain attacker, "would have been my pick", Kroos stressed. "In my eyes, he was the best player in the best team in Europe."

Last season, Kvaratskhelia played a key role in PSG's latest Champions League triumph, recording 17 goal contributions (ten goals, seven assists) in 16 Champions League appearances. He delivered in decisive moments. The Georgian scored the crucial equaliser to make it 1-1 in the spectacular 5-4 first-leg semi-final against Bayern Munich, then added a second goal later on.

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia won a crucial penalty for PSG in the Champions League final

In the return leg in Munich (1-1), he set up Ousmane Dembele's early opener for Paris with a superb piece of play. Against Arsenal in the final, Kvaratskhelia won the penalty that Dembele converted to make it 1-1 shortly after the hour mark. PSG stayed in the match and went on to win the penalty shootout.

Alongside the Champions League, Kvaratskhelia won the French league title, the domestic and UEFA Super Cups and the FIFA Intercontinental Cup with Paris. But the 25-year-old had not qualified for the World Cup with Georgia. Unlike newly crowned Ballon d'Or winner Harry Kane, Kylian Mbappe or Lamine Yamal, he could not make his case on the biggest stage of all.

Kroos sees Kvaratskhelia's sixth-place finish in the 2026 Ballon d'Or, behind that trio as well as Rodri and Lionel Messi, as a sign "that he would have had a very good chance without the World Cup. Because everyone ahead of him had a big impact at the World Cup," said the former Germany international. Kroos added: "If Mbappe had not had a World Cup, he would not have been in the top five. And Lamine would also have struggled to make the top five without the World Cup title."

Mbappe, Lamine Yamal and Kane in the spotlight at the World Cup

For France, who finished fourth, Mbappe produced numerous outstanding performances at the tournament in North America and finished as top scorer with ten goals. Lamine Yamal did not stand out for his individual numbers at the World Cup (one goal, one assist), but showed enormous maturity by putting the team first and won the title with Spain. Kane captained England to third place, saving the Three Lions from embarrassment with a brace against DR Congo (2-1) in the round of 32, for example, and playing a decisive role in the 3-2 last-16 win over co-hosts Mexico.

Those performances make the Bayern Munich striker a deserving Ballon d'Or winner in Kroos' eyes, with the outcome "more open than ever". What set Kane apart from Mbappe and Lamine Yamal, who completed the podium? "He is the only one who did not launch a campaign beforehand," Kroos pointed out.

In the weeks before Monday's Ballon d'Or ceremony, Mbappe and Lamine Yamal had at times very openly promoted their own candidacies. The Barcelona star, for example, said: "To be honest, I think I deserve this award this year, because of what I have won." Real attacker Mbappe described himself as the "chosen one" and sounded confident of victory: "No player was better than me last season." Kane made no such declarations, yet he edged out Mbappe to win.

Kvaratskhelia faces lengthy absence: Ballon d'Or 2027 chances already gone

Kvaratskhelia, meanwhile, had concerns far greater than his placing around the time of the Ballon d'Or award. The Georgia international recently suffered a cruciate ligament tear in PSG's 4-2 Champions League win over Barcelona and will be out for months. He may not play again this season. "Why me? I never left anything to chance. I had probably prepared for this match better than ever before. I thought I was ready for anything, but not this," a dejected Kvaratskhelia wrote on Instagram.

With Kvaratskhelia facing a lengthy absence, his chances of winning the 2027 Ballon d'Or have already gone. In 2028, he would probably need strong performances at the European Championship to be considered for the award. Kvaratskhelia and his team-mates did at least qualify for the previous European Championship, held in Germany in 2024, and reached the last 16. Eventual European champions Spain ended their campaign there (1-4). Georgia do not yet know who they will face in qualifying for the next European Championship in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland.