Awards
Ballon d'Or voting revealed: Kane beat Mbappé by just 28 points
The full breakdown of the 2026 men's Ballon d'Or vote shows one of the smallest winning margins in the award's history.
FootVal Newsroom
The complete voting details from the 2026 Ballon d'Or have been published, showing that Harry Kane beat Kylian Mbappé by only 28 points across the ballots of 100 journalists — one of the narrowest margins in the award's history.
Kane, who won the prize at the ceremony in London, was named world's best player ahead of the Frenchman, for whom second place represents the highest finish of his career. The closeness of the vote underlines how competitive the race was between the Bayern Munich striker and Real Madrid's Mbappé.
Kane, 33, is under contract at Bayern Munich until June 2027 and has recorded four goals and five assists in seven appearances in the 2026-27 season. Mbappé, 27, has been in sharp form for Real Madrid this season, scoring 11 goals in ten appearances. FootVal's valuation of Kane stands at €41m, against a Transfermarkt market value of €60m.
The release of the full vote breakdown is standard practice in the days following the Ballon d'Or ceremony and confirms that the 2026 edition was among the most keenly contested in the award's long history.
Sources
This article is based on reports by:
- The Athletic — Ballon d'Or voting revealed: Harry Kane beat Kylian Mbappe by only 28 points
- L'Équipe — Le détail des votes du Ballon d'Or 2026 : l'écart entre Harry Kane et Kylian Mbappé parmi les plus faibles de l'histoire
- kicker — Kane-Vorsprung auf Mbappé und Karibischer Olise-Fan: Die genauen Ergebnisse vom Ballon d'Or
- ESPN — Kane beat Mbappé to Ballon d'Or by one of smallest margins in history
- RMC Sport — Kane sacré pour une poignée de votes: l'écart infime qui a privé Kylian Mbappé du Ballon d'or
Written by the FootVal newsroom from the reports below, with figures from FootVal’s own database. Spotted a mistake? Tell us. · How we report