Kane Down to 9/2 for Ballon d'Or, Messi's Odds Slashed

Here we are taking a look at the current Ballon d’Or odds and how they might be affected by the end of Euro 2020 and the Copa America this month, with the main two candidates Lionel Messi and Harry Kane both in with a chance of winning a tournament with their national sides for the first time.

Lionel Messi comes in as the favourite to win the 2021 Ballon d’Or with odds of 7/4, due to the sheer number of goals and assists that he has made for Barcelona last season, scoring 38 and making 11 assists in 47 games, despite the Catalan club having an under-par season, winning just the Copa del Rey against Athletic Bilbao on 17th April, where Messi scored a brace in the final as his side ran out as comfortable 4-0 winners.

The 34-year-old is also looking to put his name in lights at the Copa America as Argentina have made it to the final against Brazil in this year’s competition and are looking to win the trophy for the first time since 1993. Messi has managed four goals and five assists in six matches on their route to the final and would effectively be immortalized in his country if he helped his national side win the trophy.

Messi is priced at 7/4 to win the 2021 Ballon d'Or - click here to claim this bet in your bet slip!

Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane comes in as the second favourite in the Ballon d’Or odds, as the 27-year-old looks to become the first English player to win the individual accolade since Michael Owen did so back in 2001.

Although Kane didn’t win any trophies with Spurs, he had an outstanding season for the Lilywhites, winning the Premier League Golden Boot with 23 goals in 35 matches, as well as creating the most assists doing so 14 times. In total Kane managed 50 goal contributions across 49 matches for Tottenham.

Kane has managed to score three goals in England’s path to the semi-finals at Euro 2020, with a crucial second goal against Germany in the round of 16, as well as a brace in the quarter-finals against Ukraine. If the Three Lions captain was to fire in the goals and help his national team win a trophy for the first time since 1966, then there is a good chance that he could challenge Messi for the Ballon d’Or, especially if the Argentine fails to win the Copa America.

England's Kane is priced at 9/2 to win the Ballon d'Or this year.

Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski has much bigger odds to win the Ballon d’Or than Messi and Kane as his national side Poland were knocked out in the group stages of Euro 2020 having lost to both Slovakia and Sweden, as well as managing a 1-1 draw with Spain. The 32-year-old still managed to score three goals in Group E with a brace against Sweden as well as the equaliser in their draw with Spain.

Lewandowski had another outstanding season for Bayern, firing them to another Bundesliga crown, breaking Gerd Muller’s all-time scoring record in a league campaign, firing 41 goals in 29 appearances, as well as making seven assists. The Pole also scored in their European Super Cup final win against Sevilla and set up the winning goal as Bayern also won the Club World Cup against Mexican outfit Tigres.

Inevitably Cristiano Ronaldo is next up on this list at 9/1 despite having a good individual season at Juventus and with his national side Portugal.

Last season was one of turmoil at Juve, as Andrea Pirlo’s side only managed a fourth-place finish, which was the first time since 2010/11 that they haven’t won the league title, although they did pick up a Coppa Italia along the way having beaten Atalanta in the final 2-1. Despite of this, Ronaldo at 36-years-old still managed a staggering 36 goals and four assists.

At Euro 2020, Portugal were knocked out of the competition by Belgium at the round of 16 following a Thorgan Hazard strike deceiving goalkeeper Rui Patricio, but, Ronaldo managed to break the all-time record for most goals in the Euros totalling 14, as well as equalling Ali Daei’s all-time international goalscoring record of 109 goals, following five goals at Euro 2020, with two braces against Hungary and France, as well as the opening goal of the game against Germany in Group F.

N’Golo Kante’s Ballon d’Or odds are currently at 10/1 following an excellent season with Chelsea which saw the French midfielder win the Champions League in Porto against Manchester City at the end of the season. The 30-year-old former Leicester City man was awarded the Champions League final man of the match for his superb defensive displays which limited City to very little opportunities on goal.

Kante also helped Chelsea to a fourth-place finish in the Premier League under Thomas Tuchel following a poor first-half of the season which cost former manager Frank Lampard his job at Stamford Bridge, as well as reaching the FA Cup final, but, losing to Leicester 1-0 at Wembley despite dominating the match for large periods.