England and Bayern Munich forward Harry Kane reacts after receiving the Ballon d'Or award for the best male footballer during the 2026 Ballon d'Or France Football award ceremony at the Palladium Theatre in London on October 26, 2026. (Photo by FRANCK FIFE / AFP)
Paris: Harry Kane captured the Ballon d'Or by the narrowest margin in the award's current voting system after edging out Kylian Mbappé by just 28 points, event organizers France Football revealed on Friday.
The magazine published a breakdown of the votes in its Friday edition.
Bayern Munich's Kane, the first Englishman to win the award since Michael Owen in 2001, received 40 first-place votes from the 100 jurors and a total of 1,055 points. France captain Mbappe of Real Madrid was placed first 23 times and finished with 1,027 points.
The previous smallest margin was 41 when Rodri, then of Manchester City, edged another Real player Vinicius Junior by 41 points in 2024.
Last season, Paris Saint-Germain forward Ousmane Dembele totalled 1,380 points as he finished 321 points ahead of Lamine Yamal of Barcelona.
This summer, Yamal won a World Cup with Spain but he finished third in the voting on 881 points, 174 behind Kane.
The Ballon d'Or is awarded following a vote by journalists (one per country) representing the top 100 nations in the FIFA rankings for men, and the top 50 for women.
