The Ballon d’Or have revealed that Harry Kane won the award over Kylian Mbappe by only 28 points — one of the smallest margins in history.
The England captain was presented the award for best men’s footballer of the 2025-26 season in London on Monday, also winning the striker of the year trophy, after scoring 73 goals in 65 matches for club and country last term.
Kane, 33, finished above Real Madrid’s Mbappe and Barcelona teenager Lamine Yamal, but a detailed breakdown of the voting released by the organising committee has revealed it was one of the tightest margins in history.
The Bayern Munich forward received 1,055 points, in a weighted voting system used by 100 journalists, while Mbappe received 28 fewer with 1,027. There was a larger cushion between France international and Yamal, with the 19-year-old receiving 881 points to sit 155 points above his team-mate Rodri (726). Eight-time winner of the award Lionel Messi rounded up the top five on 612 points.
It was the closest winning margin since Lionel Messi finished with only seven points more than Liverpool’s Virgil Van Dijk in 2019. The narrowest wins ever have been Matthias Sammer scoring one point more than Ronaldo Nazario in 1996 and Bobby Charlton beating Eusébio by the same single-point margin in 1966.
Mbappe finished second in the 2026 Ballon d’Or (FRANCK FIFE / AFP via Getty Images)
Last year, the winning margin was much greater with Paris Saint-Germain’s Ousmane Dembele finishing 321 points above Yamal on 1380. In 2024, Rodri won the Ballon d’Or when he was at Manchester City, leading Vinicius Junior by only 41 points.
The Ballon d’Or is decided by a jury of 100 journalists each from different countries. They each select their top ten players of the season and award them points according to a descending scale: 15, 12, 10, 8, 7, 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1 point.
Kane led Bayern to a domestic double with the Bundesliga title and German Cup last season, with the side also winning the German Super Cup. He then captained England to a third-place finish at the World Cup.
Mbappe also had a strong year, scoring ten goals at the World Cup to win a second successive Golden Boot at the tournament and becoming the all-time top scorer in the finals. He also registered 40 goals in 42 appearances across La Liga and the Champions League.
Full top ten breakdown
Harry Kane (Bayern Munich, England) — 1,055 points
Kylian Mbappe (Real Madrid, France) — 1,027 points
Lamine Yamal (Barcelona, Spain) — 881 points
Rodri (Barcelona, Spain) — 726 points
Lionel Messi (Inter Miami, Argentina*) — 612 points
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (Paris Saint-Germain, Georgia) — 541 points
Ousmane Dembele (Paris Saint-Germain, France) — 418 points
Erling Haaland (Manchester City, Norway) — 378 points
Michael Olise (Bayern Munich, France) — 296 points
Fabian Ruiz (Paris Saint-Germain, Spain) — 201 points
*Messi retired from international duty in October
