Harry Kane secured the 2026 Ballon d’Or by a margin of just 28 points over runner-up Kylian Mbappé, according to official voting totals released by France Football. The Bayern Munich striker finished with 1,055 points to Mbappé’s 1,027 in one of the tightest margins in the history of the award.

How the Ballots Broke Down in London

The voting period covered club and national team performances from August 3, 2025, to July 19, 2026. An international jury of 100 specialized journalists, with one representative per country, determined the winner using a weighted scoring system where a first-place vote is worth 15 points, a second-place vote is worth 12, and subsequent places receive 10, 8, 7, 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1 point respectively. In the event of a final points tie, players are ranked by the number of first-place nominations received, followed by second-place votes, third-place votes, and so on.

While Kane claimed the top spot in London with 40 first-place votes, Mbappé received 23 first-place nods. Lamine Yamal completed the podium in third place with 881 points, having been selected as the best player by 13 journalists. Rodri Hernández finished fourth with 726 points and was chosen as the best by 10 voters, while Fabián Ruiz placed tenth with 201 points and received four first-place votes. Other notable men’s placings included Leo Messi fifth with 612 points, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia sixth with 541 points, Ousmane Dembélé seventh with 418 points, Erling Haaland eighth with 378 points, and Michael Olise ninth with 296 points. Further down the standings, Jude Bellingham scored 107 points, Pau Cubarsí 101, Achraf Hakimi 65, Vitinha 59, Declan Rice 57, Ferran Torres 44, Vinicius 26, Marc Cucurella 16, Joao Neves 15, Willian Pacho 12, Gabriel Magalhaes 11, Lautaro Martínez 11, Nuno Mendes 8, Luis Díaz 8, Marquinhos 7, Dayot Upamecano 5, Bruno Fernandes 5, Julián Quiñones 4, William Saliba 2, and Sadio Mané 2.

In the women’s award, Alexia Putellas won with 618 points ahead of Ewa Pajor with 532 points, after being voted best in the world by 28 of the 50 participating journalists, compared to 12 first-place votes for the Polish striker. The remainder of the women’s top voting featured Khadija Shaw with 344 points, Melchie Dumornay with 342, Patri Guijarro with 221, Caroline Graham Hansen with 220, Pernille Harder with 220, Claudia Pina with 155, Alessia Russo with 155, Temwa Chawinga with 113, Yui Hasegawa with 89, Klara Bühl with 89, Mariona Caldentey with 69, Wendie Renard with 21, Cata Coll with 21, Mapi León with 20, Esmee Brugts with 19, Barbra Banda with 18, Tessa Wullaert with 15, Selma Bacha with 15, Scarlett Camberos with 14, Manaka Matasukubo with 9, Momoko Tanikawa with 8, Kerstin Casparij with 7, Caroline Weir with 7, and Alex Greenwood with 7.

Historical Parallels to Historic Margins

The 28-point gap between Kane and Mbappé marks the second-closest finish in the history of the voting system, trailing only the 2019 contest when Lionel Messi edged out Virgil van Dijk by seven points (686 to 679). In 2024, Rodri captured the award over Vinicius by 41 points, collecting 1,170 points (17.64% of the total) to the Brazilian’s 1,129 points (17.02%). Going further back, the 1996 award saw Matthias Sammer defeat Ronaldo Nazário by a single point (144 to 143), matching the historical 1966 margin when Bobby Charlton led Eusébio by one vote (81 to 80) among a 22-journalist jury. In 1972, the contest featured three players from the same national team selection—Franz Beckenbauer, Gerd Müller, and Günter Netzer—with the Kaiser prevailing by just two points over his closest challenger.

Kane’s victory marks a milestone for English and German club football, making him the first Englishman to win the Ballon d’Or since Michael Owen and the first player from Bayern Munich to claim the prize since Karl-Heinz Rummenigge in 1981.