Kylian Mbappé fell short in the 2026 Ballon d’Or race by just 28 points, with the full voting breakdown revealing how close the Real Madrid forward came to beating Harry Kane.
Kane collected 1,055 points to Mbappé’s 1,027, making this the fourth-closest finish between the leading two candidates in the award’s history. Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal finished third with 881 points.
The Bayern Munich striker received 40 first-place votes, compared with 23 for Mbappé. That stronger backing at the top of the ballots
helped Kane secure the trophy, despite the narrow gap in their overall totals.
For Madrid, Mbappé was comfortably their highest-ranked player. Jude Bellingham finished 11th with 107 points, missing out on the top 10, while Vinícius Júnior placed 17th on 26 points. Marc Cucurella followed in 18th with 16 points.
Rodri took fourth place with 726 points, ahead of Lionel Messi on 612. Paris Saint-Germain pair Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Ousmane Dembélé finished sixth and seventh respectively.
The figures put a number on Mbappé’s disappointment. He had been among the favourites heading into the ceremony, but ultimately finished within touching distance of the prize as Kane became the first English player to win it since Michael Owen’s success back in 2001.
