The Big Three are leading the way for the 2026 Ballon d Or! Haaland, Kane, and Mbappe s statistics are approaching Melo s peak. Who is better?

There is still a long way to go in the competition for the 2026 Ballon d'Or, especially as there will be World Cup events next summer. It is still unclear who will succeed Ousmane Dembele and win this substantial trophy.

However, although the 2025-26 season has just begun, three players have already stood out as early favorites with their extremely good starts - their statistical performance is close to the level of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in their peak years.

Manchester City's Erling Haaland, Bayern Munich's Harry Kane and Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe have been in almost unstoppable form since this summer, averaging more than 1 goal per game.

These three are the winners of the last three European Golden Boots, and now they have become the most realistic contenders for the European Golden Boot in the 2025-26 season. Perhaps, we will witness a Golden Boot battle comparable to the "Meiro Era".

Last season was Mbappe's first season with Real Madrid, and his performance was mixed - his number of goals was impeccable, but Real Madrid suffered repeated setbacks in key battles, the team was overall unbalanced, and ultimately failed to win important trophies.

Now that Xavi Alonso is in charge of Real Madrid and has made significant adjustments to the team's tactics, Mbappe is expected to turn his goals into actual honors. The French striker is confident he can help Real Madrid win the La Liga title and even the Champions League.

On the other hand, Haaland encountered dual dilemmas of form and health in Manchester City last season. Guardiola's team's performance dropped sharply, and they ended up with no results and only ranked third in the Premier League. Haaland was also defeated by Liverpool's Salah and missed the Premier League Golden Boot.

However, after the summer break was shortened due to the Club World Cup, Haaland has returned to his peak form. So far, he has scored 11 goals for Manchester City in the Premier League (17 goals in total for the team), and a total of 20 goals in all competitions for club and national team.

Kane, meanwhile, may be in the best shape of his career. This season he has won all the games he has played. Bayern Munich often wins by 3 or 4 goals. Kane is undoubtedly the core player of the team.

Who among the three performs more brilliantly? We compiled their detailed data to find out.

Haaland (Manchester City / Norway)

Number of appearances: 13 times

Number of goals: 20 goals

Number of assists: 2 times

Number of directly involved goals: 22 goals

Number of penalty kicks: 1 goal

Time per goal: 54 minutes

Time per goal for non-penalty kicks: 56 Minutes (⭐)

Time spent per direct participation in 1 goal: 49 minutes

Kane (Bayern Munich / England)

Number of appearances: 14 (⭐)

Number of goals: 22 goals (⭐)

Number of assists: 3

Number of goals directly involved: 25 goals (⭐)

Number of penalties: 7 goals (⭐)

Time spent per goal: 53 minutes (⭐)

Time spent per goal for non-penalty kicks: 78 minutes

Time spent per directly involved goal: 46 minutes (⭐)

Mbappe (Real Madrid / France)

Number of appearances: 13 times

Number of goals: 17 goals

Number of assists: 4 times (⭐)

Number of directly involved goals: 21 goals

Number of penalty kicks: 6 goals

Time per goal: 66 minutes

Time per goal for non-penalty kicks: 103 Minutes

per direct participation 1 Time spent: 54 minutes

Who do you think is the most promising to lead the 2026 Ballon d'Or so far? If one of them can lead the team to win the World Cup next year, will they directly lock in the trophy?