Ballon d’Or Winners Have Never Won the World Cup. Dembélé Can Change That.

The Ballon d’Or is supposed to crown the best player on the planet. But if you hold that trophy going into a World Cup, history says you’re basically cursed. It’s a weird stat that France would rather not think about right now.

Here’s the thing: since the award started in 1956, the reigning Ballon d’Or winner has never won the World Cup that same year. Seventeen tournaments. Seventeen misses. It’s not just a losing streak, it’s a complete shutout. Winners have only made it to the final five times, and all five lost. Lionel Messi came closest in 2022 — he had already won the Ballon d’Or in 2021 but had moved on to 2022’s award by then, so technically he beat the curse by not being the reigning holder when Qatar rolled around.

Ousmane Dembélé is the current holder after winning it in 2024. And now Les Bleus are in the knockout rounds at the 2026 World Cup. So the big question is: can he break this ridiculous streak?

France’s path starts Saturday

First things first, France has to get past Paraguay in the round of 16 this Saturday night. That’s no gimme. Paraguay plays tough, physical defense and will look to frustrate Dembélé and Kylian Mbappé. But France has the deeper roster, and if Dembélé can shake off the pressure — or lean into it — he has a real shot at rewriting history one game at a time.

No reigning Ballon d’Or winner has even reached the final since 2006, when Fabio Cannavaro got there with Italy (and won the World Cup, but he’d won the Ballon d’Or after the tournament, not before. Technicality, but it counts). Cristiano Ronaldo in 2014, Messi in 2015, Karim Benzema in 2023 — all came up short. The list of guys who didn’t even make it out of the group stage is longer than you’d think.

The pressure is real but so is the opportunity

Some people see this stat and think ‘don’t do this to us, Ousmane.’ But Dembélé has always played best when he’s got something to prove. He’s got the pace, the dribbling, the ability to break a game open from anywhere. And France’s system makes him the focal point in attack. If he can carry this team through the knockout rounds, the narrative flips from curse to legend.

Nobody’s saying it’ll be easy. Paraguay won’t roll over. And beyond them, there’s Brazil, Argentina, England, and whoever else survives the chaos of a World Cup knockout bracket. But that’s the whole point. Winning the Ballon d’Or and the World Cup in the same year would be one of the toughest achievements in sports. Dembélé could be the first to pull it off.

Or the curse keeps rolling. We’ll find out Saturday.