{"id":1177839,"date":"2026-08-30T20:55:20","date_gmt":"2026-08-30T20:55:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1177839\/"},"modified":"2026-08-30T20:55:20","modified_gmt":"2026-08-30T20:55:20","slug":"kylian-mbappe-dealt-stunning-ballon-dor-blow-as-france-icon-backs-khvicha-kvaratskhelia-instead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1177839\/","title":{"rendered":"Kylian Mbappe dealt stunning Ballon d\u2019Or blow as France icon backs Khvicha Kvaratskhelia instead"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"\/ Follow us on Google Discover <\/a> <\/p>\n

Michel Platini has handed Kylian Mbappe a surprise Ballon d\u2019Or blow after backing Paris Saint-Germain forward Khvicha Kvaratskhelia to win the prestigious award this year.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The France legend believes Kvaratskhelia\u2019s Champions League success with PSG makes him a strong candidate, despite Mbappe producing a historic moment for France at the World Cup.<\/p>\n

Mbappe became the all-time top scorer at the World Cup this summer, a remarkable individual achievement that has strengthened his case for the award.<\/p>\n

\"RealPhoto by M Gracia Jimenez\/Soccrates\/Getty ImagesMichel Platini backs Khvicha Kvaratskhelia for Ballon d\u2019Or<\/p>\n

Platini\u2019s choice is particularly notable given the strength of the competition for this year\u2019s Ballon d\u2019Or.<\/p>\n

According to The Tribuna, the former France star said: \u2018For the Ballon d\u2019Or, I\u2019d put a small bet on the Paris Saint-Germain player, Kvaratskhelia.\u2019<\/p>\n

Platini then explained why he had chosen the Georgian forward.<\/p>\n

\u2018He won the Champions League title with Paris Saint-Germain,\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n

That European success appears to be the key factor for Platini, who pointed to the demands of winning the competition across a long campaign.<\/p>\n

\u2018The Champions League means playing a lot of matches. And there are 4 or 5 other players who also deserve the award,\u2019 Platini added.<\/p>\n

MORE KYLIAN MBAPPE STORIES<\/p>\n

Kvaratskhelia joined PSG and helped the French side secure the Champions League, putting himself firmly into the conversation for the individual prize.<\/p>\n

However, Mbappe\u2019s World Cup scoring achievement gives the Real Madrid forward a compelling argument of his own.<\/p>\n

The France captain became the tournament\u2019s all-time leading goalscorer, adding another major individual record to his already impressive career.<\/p>\n

\"FBL-EUR-C1-PSG-ARSENAL-FINAL\"Photo by Attila KISBENEDEK \/ AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

There has also been debate over whether PSG players or members of the Spanish national team should take the prize.<\/p>\n

Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho reportedly offered a different view, arguing that neither a PSG player nor a Spain international should win the award.<\/p>\n

Instead, Mourinho pointed towards Mbappe\u2019s historic individual achievement at the World Cup as a reason to favour the Real Madrid star.<\/p>\n

Kvaratskhelia will now have to wait alongside Mbappe and the other leading contenders to discover who takes home the award.<\/p>\n

October will provide the answer, with reigning winner Ousmane Dembele also expected to be among the strongest candidates to defend his Ballon d\u2019Or crown.<\/p>\n

Join Our Newsletter<\/p>\n

Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Follow us on Google Discover Michel Platini has handed Kylian Mbappe a surprise Ballon d\u2019Or blow after backing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1177840,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5309],"tags":[65583,2000,299,36,100912,15160,96,7068,64135,6544,544],"class_list":["post-1177839","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-france","tag-ballon-dor","tag-eu","tag-europe","tag-france","tag-khvicha-kvaratskhelia","tag-kylian-mbappe","tag-la-liga","tag-ligue-1","tag-ousmane-dembele","tag-paris-saint-germain","tag-real-madrid"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/117186458977928858","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1177839","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1177839"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1177839\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1177840"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1177839"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1177839"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1177839"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}