Harry Kane Wins Ballon d’Or Ahead of Kylian Mbappé

Harry Kane won the Ballon d’Or on Oct. 26 at the London Palladium with 1,055 points, finishing 28 points ahead of runner-up Kylian Mbappé. FC Barcelona winger Lamine Yamal secured third place with 881 points, sitting 146 points behind Mbappé in the global media balloting.

Balloting Anomalies Across National Association Votes

Each national association sends one accredited journalist to vote in the hundred-ballot pool that decides the final standings. Four of those ballots omitted Yamal entirely from any position: Greece, Cameroon, Croatia, and Belarus.

Zdravko Reić, the Croatian voter, placed Manchester City midfielder Rodri first on his ballot, followed by Erling Haaland second and Lionel Messi third, as reported by Yahoo Sports. Reić slotted Barcelona attacking player Ferran Torres fourth, Mbappé fifth, and Kane sixth. Yamal did not appear anywhere on Reić’s ballot.

The Greek voter, Manos Staramopoulos, ranked PSG defender Willian Pacho third and Chelsea left-back Marc Cucurella fourth, placing Kane seventh according to Goal.com. Staramopoulos left Yamal out of his top ten.

Belarusian voter selections opened with Messi first, Rodri second, and Kane third. Belarus stood as one of six associations backing Messi for the top spot, joining Brazil, Argentina, Panama, the United Arab Emirates, and China. Messi finished fifth overall.

The ballot from Cameroon also excluded Yamal, though specific positional rankings for that country were not published alongside the lists from Croatia, Greece, and Belarus that drew post-ceremony attention.

First-Place Votes and Kopa Trophy Success

The post-ceremony breakdown showed Kane collecting 40 first-place votes compared to 23 for Mbappé and 13 for Yamal. The margin at the summit marked the narrowest gap in years, with less than three percent separating Kane and Mbappé.

Yamal left the London ceremony with the Kopa Trophy as the world’s best under-21 player for the third year, making him the only player to win the award three times. During his acceptance speech, Yamal addressed teammate Pau Cubarsí, who finished behind him for the Kopa honor (Bayern Munich’s Lennart Karl finished fourth): I would have liked for Cubarsí to be here, because I believe this award should have gone to him, Yamal said, adding that he remained happy to receive the distinction.

Family Reactions and Yamal Social Media Response

Yamal responded to the final voting outcome via Instagram with the message ER WIRD KOMMEN, accompanied by further comments on patience and building toward future goals. His uncle, Abdul Abdellaoui, expressed sharp criticism during an appearance on El Chiringuito TV, stating: I don’t understand anything. Something is not right, and adding that he believed his nephew should have been named the best player in the world.

Next Confirmed Fixture

Yamal stated his focus is on ensuring FC Barcelona wins again.