Ballon d’Or 2026: African votes revealed as Kane wins backing across four countries

The votes cast by the 100 jurors for the 2026 Ballon d’Or have been published, revealing the choices made by Morocco, Algeria, Cote d’Ivoire and Cameroon.

The results were disclosed by French newspaper L’Equipe on Friday, four days after the 70th Ballon d’Or ceremony in London. Harry Kane collected the award, finishing ahead of Kylian Mbappe in second place and Lamine Yamal in third.

Morocco’s vote went to Achraf Hakimi, the Paris Saint-Germain and Morocco defender who is regarded as a favourite in his homeland. Moroccan journalist Mostafa Badri was the only member of the jury to select Hakimi, 27, who has won 103 caps and scored 12 goals for the national team.

The choice was described as a strongly patriotic vote, particularly because nine of the 20 African jurors backed Mbappe instead.

The Real Madrid forward received support from Benin, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Egypt, Ghana, Guinea, Mali, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zambia.

Algeria selected Lamine Yamal, while Harry Kane was the preferred choice of jurors from South Africa, Angola, Uganda and Senegal.

Sadio Mane, who finished joint 29th and second-to-last overall alongside William Saliba, received a top-nine ranking from the journalist representing Gabon. Gabon was the only country to place the Senegal forward among its leading candidates.

The publication of the individual ballots provides a detailed breakdown of how each African jury member voted in this year’s award.