France Football Chief Questions PSG Over Ballon d'Or Campaign

On Monday of this week, the 2026 Ballon d'Or ceremony took place, where unfortunately none of the Paris Saint-Germain players were positioned in the top 5.

After months of uncertainty, the Ballon d'Or finally has an owner: Bayern Munich forward Harry Kane. The news spread like wildfire among soccer fans, but in a good way, since the Englishman had been waiting for it for a long time.

However, there were other people who did not agree with how the other players were listed, especially those from PSG, who did not manage to enter the top 5 and, in the fans' words, deserved to be placed higher.

PSG had three players in the top 10: left winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia managed to place sixth, forward Ousmane Dembele in seventh, and midfielder Fabian Ruiz in 10th. But they were not the only players on the lists.

Further down, we also find in 13th place right-back Achraf Hakimi, followed by midfielder Vitinha in 14th, new forward Ferran Torres in 16th, midfielder Joao Neves in 19th, followed by center-back Willian Pacho in 20th, left-back Nuno Mendes in 23rd, and lastly the club captain Marquinhos in 25th.

Ten PSG players in total showed that they have enough talent to be on the list. For many people, it is absurd that a Champions League winner does not receive the highest award, especially taking into account how well the club performed last season.

So much was the uproar with this topic that even the director of France Football (the magazine in charge of the Ballon d'Or), Vincent Garcia, pointed out the way PSG managed the Parisian club's campaign.

For Garcia, it was strange that they first chose three standout players, choosing to promote them together, to later focus on two (Dembele and Kvaratskhelia) and not on one, as is normally done.

"(...) Others did a less successful campaign (than Mbappe's), and I think a little of PSG. I believe, for example, that PSG's communication was not very clear, trying to promote three players, then two," Vincent declared to L'Equipe.

The director of France Football made it clear that in his opinion, PSG should have focused on just one player, in this case, on Ousmane, the 2025 Ballon d'Or winner.

"In fact, for me, but I repeat that it is not my job, I do not do public relations, I believe they should have opted for one player and for me they should have opted for the Ballon d'Or winner, that is, Ousmane Dembele."

Although none ended up in as high a position as both the press and the fans expected after all the great feats they achieved last season, PSG at least managed to win the Best Men's Club of the Season award for the second consecutive year, an award that was collected at the ceremony by Dembele.