Editor-in-chief of France Football, the organisers of the Ballon d’Or, Vincent Garcia has shed light how a late surge of votes for Harry Kane pushed the England striker over the line to win.

Kane became the fifth Englishman to win the prestigious award, and the first in 25 years, with Michael Owen the last England international to win the Ballon d’Or in 2001.

The race for the 2026 Ballon d’Or was said to be the most closely fought in years as there were no standout performers winning the major tournaments of the year - one of the deciding criteria for Ballon d’Or journalists.

While the winner is announced on the night of the Ballon d’Or gala, votes are received over the span of multiple weeks. Kane had been the bookies’ favourite for some time, though Lamine Yamal was briefly ahead in the markets and Kylian Mbappe saw a late surge in the days and hours leading up to the London ceremony.

However, Garcia says Mbappe was favoured in the voting for some time. He explained: "Kylian Mbappe was ahead in the race for most of the voting period, before Harry Kane came back strongly.

“The gap in points between Kane and Mbappe is extremely small, even less than the gap between Rodri and Vinicius in 2024, which amounted to 41 points."

Kylian Mbappe and Harry Kane

London Standard

Garcia did not reveal his vote, but sang the praises of Kane. “He is above all a great goalscorer,” continued Garcia.

“He scored 73 goals with his club and his national team this season, won every title in Germany with Bayern Munich, and reached the semi-final of the Champions League, and with the England national team he reached the semi-final of the World Cup. There is no doubt that the jury felt he was the best and most complete choice among all the contenders."

Yamal was the star name during Spain’s World Cup, but the young winger was unable to score or provide an assist during the knockout stages. The Barcelona attacker finished third, with Garcia musing that a lack of an outstanding performer for Spain during their World Cup win cost La Roja players in the voting.

He added: "I honestly believe that Rodri deprived Lamine of some votes. In the World Cup-winning Spanish national team, there was a clear split in votes between Rodri and Lamine Yamal, and this split cost them a great deal.

"There was a great dispersal of votes among the Spanish players, and more importantly, the Spanish national team was a complete side and an astonishing collective machine. That is why it was almost impossible for the members of the jury to single out and favour one specific individual performance."