Harry Kane won the 2026 Ballon d’Or by a margin smaller than the 41 points that separated Rodri and Vinícius Júnior in 2024, according to France Football editor Vincent Garcia.
Garcia spoke to L’Équipe after Kane received the award at the London Palladium on Monday, October 26. The full voting figures will be published on Saturday.
“The points gap between Kane and Mbappé was smaller than the gap between Rodri and Vinícius Júnior in 2024, which was 41 points, and that was already a very narrow margin at the time,” Garcia said.
“Kylian led the race for a long time, but Harry Kane came back into contention, and in the end, it was decided by a very, very small number of points.”
The disclosure means the two strikers were separated by only a handful of points. However, the exact margin will stay unknown until the complete results are released.
Kane’s Record-Breaking Season
Kane claimed his first Ballon d’Or after scoring 73 goals in 65 appearances for Bayern Munich and England. In addition, he helped Bayern win the Bundesliga and the DFB-Pokal last season.
The 33-year-old also scored six goals at the 2026 World Cup, where England finished third. His win makes him the first English player to take the award since Michael Owen in 2001.
Mbappé finished second, his highest-ever Ballon d’Or position. Meanwhile, Barcelona teenager Lamine Yamal took third place.
The Real Madrid forward finished as La Liga’s top scorer with 25 goals and the Champions League’s top scorer with 15. He also led the World Cup scoring chart with 10 goals.
Full Winners List
Alexia Putellas won the women’s Ballon d’Or at the same ceremony. The 70th edition of football’s most prestigious individual awards honoured players across the men’s and women’s game.
Lamine Yamal and Vicky Lopez won the men’s and women’s Young Talent awards. Luis de la Fuente and Pere Romeu took the coaching honours.
Unai Simon and Cata Coll won the goalkeeper awards. PSG and FC Barcelona Femení were named Men’s and Women’s Club of the Year.
Bukayo Saka received the Sócrates Award for social impact. Kane also collected the Men’s Gerd Müller Trophy for top scorer, while Charlyn Corral won the women’s version.
Other Men’s & Women’s Top Prizes
Men’s Top 10 Rankings
- Harry Kane
- Kylian Mbappé
- Lamine Yamal
- Rodri
- Lionel Messi
- Khvicha Kvaratskhelia
- Ousmane Dembélé
- Erling Haaland
- Michael Olise
- Fabián Ruiz
Women’s Top 10 Rankings
- Alexia Putellas
- Ewa Pajor
- Khadija Shaw
- Melchie Dumornay
- Patri Guijarro
- Caroline Graham Hansen
- Pernille Harder
- Claudia Pina
- Alessia Russo
- Temwa Chawinga
The ceremony closed a year in which Kane finally turned his prolific club form into football’s biggest individual prize. Therefore, the narrow margin over Mbappé adds extra weight to a win that ends England’s 25-year wait.
Congratulations to all the winning parties as well as nominees. To those that did not win, we go again next time.