Harry Kane edges Mbappe to Ballon d'Or by just 28 points

Twenty-eight points. That's all that separated Harry Kane from Kylian Mbappe in the 2026 Ballon d'Or vote, a margin so razor-thin that it makes this one of the closest finishes anyone can remember in the award's history. The Bayern Munich striker walked away with the trophy he had been chasing all season, and he did it by the narrowest of margins.

The number matters when you look at the history books: according to the French newspaper L'Equipe, which published the figures Friday ahead of France Football's print edition, this is the fourth-tightest vote in the award's 70 years. You have to go back to 2019, when Lionel Messi beat out Virgil van Dijk by just seven points, to find something closer.

Kane finished with 1,055 points and 40 first-place votes, while Mbappe ended up with 1,027 points and 23 first-place nods. The jury, made up of 100 international journalists, awards 15 points for a first-place vote on each ballot, 12 for second, 10 for third and so on down to tenth.

For Kane, the award caps off a monster season by the numbers: 73 goals between club and country, on top of finishing as Europe's top scorer. Add to that his World Cup contribution, where his six goals helped England to a third-place finish. With this win, he becomes the first Englishman to lift the Ballon d'Or in 25 years, and gives Bayern Munich its first winner in 45 years. It's also the first time since 1996 that a player from a German club has taken home the trophy.

Mbappe, for his part, had nothing to be ashamed of: he scored 42 goals for Real Madrid last season and then became the all-time leading scorer in World Cup history, with 22 goals total, 10 of them coming in this latest edition of the tournament.

Yamal third as Spain dominates the podium

The other name that dominated much of the conversation was Lamine Yamal, who finished third with 881 points and 13 first-place votes, 146 points behind Mbappe. The 19-year-old had a remarkable season: he was a key piece in Barcelona's LaLiga title and then helped Spain win the World Cup.

Speaking about that World Cup triumph, Barcelona coach Hansi Flick addressed how Yamal handled missing out on the award:

Yamal reacted like a champion to the Ballon d'Or setback.Hansi Flick

The votes among the world champions were spread around: Rodri, Yamal's teammate on the national team, finished fourth with 726 points and 10 first-place votes, while further back came Messi, Kvaratskhelia, Dembele, Haaland, Olise and Fabian Ruiz to round out the top 10.

Putellas claims her third women's Ballon d'Or

In the women's category, things were considerably more clear-cut. Alexia Putellas, now playing for London City Lionesses, won her third Ballon d'Or with 618 points, finishing 86 points ahead of her former Barcelona teammate Ewa Pajor, who ended up with 532. Putellas was the top choice of 28 of the 50 judges who voted in this category. Khadija Shaw of Manchester City rounded out the podium well behind, with 344 points.