Kane wins Ballon d'Or by narrowest margin, edging Mbappé

Kane won 2026 Ballon d'Or by just 28 votes over Mbappé, with 1,055 to 1,027; the second-closest margin in the award's history.

Harry Kane has been crowned the 2026 Ballon d'Or winner in one of the closest contests in the award's history. The Bayern Munich striker secured 1,055 votes to edge out Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappé, who received 1,027 votes — a margin of just 28 votes. Kane was named first by 40 of the 100 voting journalists, compared to 23 first-place votes for Mbappé.

This is only the second-closest Ballon d'Or result ever. In 2019, Lionel Messi won with 686 votes against Virgil van Dijk's 679, a seven-vote gap. Barcelona's Lamine Yamal finished third with 881 votes after being named first 13 times, though France Football's editor-in-chief Vincent Garcia noted Yamal was disadvantaged by votes being split among Spanish players, with midfielder Rodri finishing fourth on 726 votes.