Yamal, Mbappé, Kane, Messi line up for today’s Ballon d’Or

MANCHESTER, England (AP):

The Ballon d’Or winners will be announced today, with a new generation of football stars led by Lamine Yamal and Kylian Mbappé ready to stake their claim to a trophy that, for so long, was defined by the personal rivalry between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Messi, however, remains in contention for football’s top individual honour at age 39 following his outstanding performances at the World Cup. And while it feels as though the game is entering the Yamal-Mbappé era, Harry Kane’s extraordinary goalscoring exploits could yet delay that changing of the guard for another year.