MARCA's 100 predict 2026 Balón d'Or: Kane, Alexia and De la Fuente

MARCA's panel of 100 journalists correctly predicted all three 2026 Balón d'Or winners: Kane (men), Putellas (women), and De la Fuente (coach).

MARCA's annual predictions panel, now in its fifth edition, accurately forecasted the 2026 Balón d'Or winners across all three main categories. Over 200 journalists worldwide voted in the MARCA awards, which preceded the official Balón d'Or ceremony.

Harry Kane won the men's award, finishing ahead of Lamine Yamal and Kylian Mbappé in MARCA's voting, though the official Balón d'Or podium saw Mbappé move to second place with Yamal third. Alexia Putellas claimed her third Balón d'Or, equalling Aitana Bonmatí's record and returning to the top of women's football after also winning MARCA's award days earlier.

Luis De la Fuente, Spain's manager who led the national team to their second European Championship this summer, was named best coach in both MARCA's predictions and the official Balón d'Or, ahead of contenders including Luis Enrique, Hansi Flick, Mikel Arteta, Vincent Kompany and Unai Emery.