His prediction was correct in 2025: artificial intelligence picks its candidate for the Ballon d'Or

Artificial intelligence has already chosen its favourite for the 2026 Ballon d'Or, according to a report published on Tuesday.

The website "Foot Mercato" reported that, according to predictions by Avisia, a French company that works with data and artificial intelligence, Lamine Yamal is the favourite to win the award. He has a 23% chance of winning, ahead of Harry Kane at 21% and Kylian Mbappe at 19%.

Rodri and Lionel Messi complete the top five, with chances of 19% and 18%, respectively.

The model creates its ranking by looking at each player's individual and team performances, how much media attention they receive, and patterns from previous votes.

At the heart of the system is a prediction method called "Random Forest". It uses a classification algorithm to compare different possible outcomes based on data from the company's own player index.

Avisia says it correctly predicted the top five players for the 2025 award, which Ousmane Dembele won. The company also claims its predictions for the 2026 World Cup are 75% accurate.

With the World Cup expected to play a major role this year, the AI ranks the rising Barcelona star as its top choice. However, it does not guarantee that he will win the award.