Ballon d'Or votes published: Kane beat Mbappé by just 28 points

Kane won by just 28 points (1055 to 1027); journalists from 23 countries voted for Mbappé, including those from Netherlands, Germany, Spain, France and Italy.

The Ballon d'Or voting breakdown has been revealed, showing Harry Kane's narrow victory over Kylian Mbappé. Kane finished with 1055 points to Mbappé's 1027 — a gap of just 28 points. Lamine Yamal took third place with 881 points.

Mbappé received first-place votes from journalists in 23 countries, including the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, France and Italy. The voting system awards 15 points for a first-place vote, 12 for second, then 10, 8, 7, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 point down the list, with one journalist from each of the 100 participating nations submitting a top-ten ranking.

Historically, the margin between first and second has been even tighter. Lionel Messi won in 2019 with just seven points more than Virgil van Dijk, and in 1996 Matthias Sammer beat Ronaldo by a single point.