Former Belgium and Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany has offered Ballon d’Or advice to Kevin De Bruyne saying he needs to win before Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe start winning the award. De Bruyne and Belgium will kick-off their FIFA World Cup campaign with a clash against Canada on November 24.

Kompany offers Ballon d’Or advice to Kevin De Bruyne (Reuters)

By India Today Web Desk: Former Belgium and Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany has offered Ballon d’Or advice to Kevin De Bruyne, saying he needs to win before Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe start winning the award. De Bruyne and Belgium will kick-off their FIFA World Cup campaign with a clash against Canada on November 24.

Speaking ahead of the tournament, Kompany said De Bruyne can win the Ballon d’Or but advised him to do so before Mbappe and Haaland go on a winning spree.

“Of course, it’s still a team effort to get to those closing stages, but De Bruyne is an important player for Belgium. He has been involved in the Ballon d’Or vote for a few years now and he can win it. He is at his peak. But if I was Kevin – or any player hoping to win the Ballon d’Or – I would get in there now. He needs to win it before Haaland and Mbappe start,” said Kompany.

Kompany also spoke about Belgium’s golden generation that includes players like De Bruyne, Eden Hazard, Romelu Lukaku, Thibaut Courtois and Toby Alderweireld.

“People talk about this Golden Generation – but they go into the tournament with the perspective of having the next Golden Generation. There is definitely enough talent there. This team could be a little bit in the middle of those two generations. Whether it’s too late or too early, we don’t know,” Kompany added.

Kompany added that Belgium have game-changers in their team and those players will be vital in tough matches in the tournament.

“One thing is for sure, Belgium have game-changers – and in any big competition you need game-changers. If you get Brazil or whoever somewhere down the line, and someone needs to put that ball in the back of the net, you need those game-changers. Belgium have got that. They have got experience – and they’ve got a coach they have worked with for a long time. So in terms of team cohesion, they have some real advantages,” said Kompany.