Harry Kane has been named the winner of the 2026 Ballon d’Or after finishing with 1,055 points, just 28 points ahead of Kylian Mbappé. The Bayern Munich striker becomes the first Englishman to claim the award since Michael Owen in 2001.
The result, released by France Football, confirms one of the closest contests in recent memory. Mbappé finished second with 1,027 points, while Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal took third place with 881 points. Rodri finished fourth on 726 points and Lionel Messi completed the top five with 612.
Voting was conducted by 100 international journalists, one from each of the top 100 nations in the FIFA rankings. Each journalist ranked their preferred top ten players from a shortlist of 30 nominees. Points were awarded on a descending scale of 15, 12, 10, 8, 7, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1.
Kane received 40 first place votes, almost twice as many as Mbappé, who collected 23. Despite this clear advantage in top rankings, Mbappé remained close overall because he attracted a high number of second, third and fourth place selections from voters who did not rank him first. Kane was omitted from only two top ten lists, while Mbappé was left out of three.
Lamine Yamal received 13 first place votes but finished 174 points behind Kane. Some observers noted that votes among Spanish players may have been split, with Rodri collecting 10 first place selections of his own. Messi, now at Inter Miami, continued to attract support and finished fifth.
The 28 point margin is narrower than the 41 point gap between Rodri and Vinicius Junior in 2024 and is the tightest finish under the current voting system since Lionel Messi edged Virgil van Dijk by seven points in 2019. France Football indicated that Mbappé led the voting for a period before Kane overtook him in the final count.
Kane’s season was marked by a prolific goalscoring return across club and international football, with Bayern Munich securing domestic honours. Mbappé produced strong individual numbers at Real Madrid and with France, yet it was not enough to overtake the England captain.
The full top ten is as follows:
- Harry Kane, 1,055 points
- Kylian Mbappé, 1,027 points
- Lamine Yamal, 881 points
- Rodri, 726 points
- Lionel Messi, 612 points
- Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, 541 points
- Ousmane Dembélé, 418 points
- Erling Haaland, 378 points
- Michael Olise, 296 points
- Fabian Ruiz, 201 points
Kane’s victory ends a long wait for an English winner and underlines the high regard in which he is held by the international jury. The narrow margin over Mbappé, however, underlines how competitive the award remains at the highest level.
By John James
