Harry Kane’s sixth-place Ballon d’Or vote admitted as a mistake by Croatian journalist

Harry Kane has been named the 2026 Ballon d’Or winner, but one of the votes cast in the award’s final ranking has prompted controversy after the Bayern Munich captain was placed only sixth.

Croatian journalist Dravko Reic, a member of the France Football Ballon d’Or jury since 1992, has now acknowledged that he misjudged Kane’s season.

Reic ranked Rodri first in his 2026 top 10, followed by Erling Haaland and Lionel Messi. Kylian Mbappe was also placed above Kane, as was Ferran Torres. His selection did not include Lamine Yamal, who finished third in the final Ballon d’Or standings.

The choices made by Reic, who works for Sportske novosti, led to questions over his assessment of Kane’s performances. According to a report published by the German newspaper Bild on Wednesday, he has since admitted that his ranking was wrong.

“In the first place, I admit my mistake and take responsibility for it as a member of the France Football jury for the 2026 Ballon d’Or, in assessing Harry Kane’s performance after placing him only sixth among the 10 players I selected,” Reic wrote in a statement published on Sportske novosti’s Instagram account.

He also told the newspaper Vecernji list that he had to accept that ranking Kane so low had been an error.

Reic said his focus on the World Cup had influenced his voting. He gave greater importance to players’ performances for their national teams than to what they achieved with their clubs.

His choice of Rodri as the winner was based on the midfielder helping Spain win the World Cup. Reic also cited the international performances of Haaland, Messi and Mbappe.

He highlighted Torres’ contribution in particular, noting that the Spain forward scored the winning goal in the final against Argentina.

Kane scored six goals and provided one assist at the World Cup, while leading England to the semi-finals. Despite those figures, Reic considered Yamal’s contribution to Spain’s triumph to have been “really marginal”.

Reic justified placing Haaland second by pointing to the striker’s importance to Norway, describing the national side’s campaign as “a first-class surprise”.

Kane’s success means he received the overall support of the Ballon d’Or electorate, despite the Croatian journalist’s decision to rank him behind Torres and Mbappe.