Ballon d’Or voting exposes contrasting views behind Harry Kane’s victory

Harry Kane won the 2026 Ballon d’Or, but the detailed voting figures revealed striking differences in how journalists assessed the world’s leading players, with several prominent names omitted from individual top-10 lists.

France Football published the votes of the 100 journalists involved in the award. Kane finished with 1,055 points, just 28 ahead of Kylian Mbappe, who collected 1,027. Lamine Yamal was third on 881 points, while fellow Spain international Rodri finished fourth.

Some of the most unusual selections came from Greece, where the journalist placed Khvicha Kvaratskhelia first, ahead of Rodri and William Pacho. Kane was ranked seventh, while Mbappe, Yamal and Ousmane Dembele did not appear in the journalist’s top 10.

The Ukrainian voter chose Fabian Ruiz as his winner, followed by Pau Cubarsi and Kvaratskhelia. Mbappe was left out altogether, while Yamal was seventh and Kane ninth.

There was another surprise in the vote from Curacao, whose representative was the only journalist to put Michael Olise at the top of his ballot.

Kane and Yamal omitted by several countries

Kane did not feature in the top 10 selected by journalists from Cote d’Ivoire and Mexico. Yamal was absent from the lists submitted by a number of countries, including Cameroon, Croatia and Belarus.

The England striker was placed 10th in the votes from Cameroon and the Czech Republic. Croatia’s journalist, Zdravko Reic, ranked Rodri first, followed by Erling Haaland and Lionel Messi. Kane was sixth, while Yamal was not included among his top 10.

Reic later acknowledged that he had made an error in Kane’s ranking, but stood by his decision not to reward the young Barcelona player. He argued that Yamal had not been decisive enough during the World Cup.

The voting also highlighted the influence of national and regional preferences. Greece and Georgia were the only two countries to rank Kvaratskhelia first.

In Colombia, journalist Pachi Andrade attracted considerable attention for giving prominent positions to compatriot Luis Diaz, as well as William Pacho and Julian Quinones. His top three, however, were Kane, Rodri and Mbappe.

Vietnam preferred Rodri in recognition of his contribution at the World Cup. Ecuador, meanwhile, showed particular support for French players, placing Mbappe, Olise and Dembele among its top four.

The published voting details appeared alongside a listing for Morocco’s Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match against Niger on 13 November 2026.

Despite the wide range of opinions, Kane secured the award by 28 points from Mbappe. The narrow margin reflected the differing views among voters over which player most deserved the Ballon d’Or.