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France Football will release the full 2026 Ballon d'Or voting breakdown on Saturday, though the magazine's editor-in-chief has already hinted that the contest among the top three was far tighter than most people had anticipated.
In reality, this always had the feel of the most wide-open race in recent memory. Harry Kane lifted the iconic golden award, ending a 25-year wait for an English winner in the process.
He was a worthy recipient thanks to his remarkable goalscoring record for Bayern Munich and England throughout the 2025–26 season. Yet there were equally strong cases to be made for Kylian Mbappé and Lamine Yamal, who came in second and third place respectively.
The voting panel, made up of one journalist from each of FIFA's top 100 ranked countries, was initially leaning toward Mbappé when early ballots were counted, France Football's Vincent Garcia told sister outlet L'Équipe after the ceremony.
Mbappé, he noted, was "leading the race for the majority of the voting period." However, Kane then "mounted a strong comeback" to ultimately claim the honor.
"The points margin between Kane and Mbappé is incredibly narrow," Garcia added, "even smaller than the gap between Rodri and Vinícius [Júnior] in 2024, which stood at 41 points."
That year, Rodri claimed the award with 1,170 points, while Vinícius Jr tallied 1,129. Jude Bellingham came third with 917, after which there was a steep drop-off through the remainder of the top 10. In 2025, Ousmane Dembélé was a far more convincing winner, amassing 1,380 points—more than 300 ahead of Yamal in second. This voting format has been in use since 2016, following the Ballon d'Or's separation from FIFA and the return of voting to France Football's control, as had been the case from 1956–2008.
However, comparing winning margins beyond 2024 is difficult due to a change in the voting structure. In 2023 and prior, jurors selected a top five from the 30-player shortlist, awarding six points to their first choice and one point to their fifth. From 2024 onward, voters have been asked to rank a top 10, with 15 points allocated to each voter's top pick and one point for their 10th choice. This naturally results in higher overall point totals.
Was Lamine Yamal Hurt by Diluted Spain Voting?
Spain had more players (6) represented on the 30-man shortlist than any other nation. Furthermore, all six finished within the top 18. By contrast, France placed five nominees, but two of them—Dayot Upamecano and William Saliba—landed in the bottom five.
Garcia suggests that Spain's collective success may have actually worked against Lamine Yamal, costing him votes that might otherwise have been directed his way. The Spanish vote appears to have been fragmented, and the seasoned journalist believes Rodri—who finished fourth, just one spot behind the teenage winger—was the primary factor.
"I genuinely think that Rodri took some votes away from Lamine," Garcia theorized.
"Within the World Cup-winning Spanish squad, there was a clear division of votes between Rodri and Lamine Yamal, and that split proved very costly for both.
"The votes were spread widely across the Spanish players, and more crucially, the Spanish national team functioned as a complete unit and a remarkable collective force. That is precisely why it was nearly impossible for jury members to isolate and favor any single individual's contribution."