Mourinho hails Kane's Ballon d'Or and defends Mbappé over China controversy

Harry Kane beat Kylian Mbappé by only 28 points in the 2026 Ballon d'Or vote, one of the narrowest winning margins in the award's history, with full voting breakdowns published in the days after the ceremony in London showing how tightly contested the race was.

Real Madrid manager José Mourinho addressed the result at a press conference ahead of his side's La Liga trip to Racing de Santander, expressing happiness for Kane — a player he previously managed — while insisting Mbappé remains exceptional. According to Corriere dello Sport, Mourinho described Mbappé as the best player at the World Cup. He also reacted with disbelief to Jude Bellingham finishing 11th.

Mourinho also spoke for the first time about the controversy surrounding Mbappé's description of Mao Zedong as a 'Chinese dictator', which drew a strong reaction from Beijing. RMC Sport reports that Mourinho said the best approach was 'not to open your mouth', and that he hoped the episode would be followed by a return to 'serenity', praising the responses of both the club and the player.

Among the voting curiosities highlighted by Record, two journalists did not include Kane in their top ten, while the Spanish representative José Félix Díaz placed Mbappé first, ahead of Lamine Yamal and Kane. FootVal's valuation of Mbappé stands at €204m, against a Transfermarkt market value of €200m; Kane's FootVal valuation is €41m against a market value of €60m.