Twenty-eight points separated Harry Kane from Kylian Mbappé in the final 2026 Ballon d’Or standings. That gap, published this week in the full voting breakdown, is one of the tightest in the award’s near-70-year history and the closest since Lionel Messi beat Virgil van Dijk by seven points in 2019.

Kane finished on 1,055 points. Mbappé had 1,027. Lamine Yamal came third on 881, with Rodri fourth and Messi fifth.

France Football editor Vincent Garcia told Goal.com the race had been decided by “a very, very small number of points”.

What makes the compression at the top odd is that Kane was not close to Mbappé on first-place ballots: he was ahead by nearly two to one. The England captain was listed first on 40 of the 100 jury cards, Mbappé on 23, Yamal on 12 and Rodri on 10. Three journalists left Mbappé off their ballot entirely. Two did the same to Kane.

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Peru, Ukraine, Gabon, Syria

The most eye-catching individual choice came from the handful of jurors who ignored the podium names altogether. Fabián Ruiz, the Paris Saint-Germain midfielder who finished tenth overall on 201 points, was the first choice of the journalists from Gabon, Peru, Syria and Ukraine.

Peru’s representative, Diario Líbero’s Carlos Salinas, put Khvicha Kvaratskhelia second and Rodri third. Kane, Mbappé and Yamal did not appear in his top three at all.

Nine players collected at least one first-place vote. Michael Olise got his single top ranking from the journalist from Curaçao. Achraf Hakimi picked one up as well, as did Kvaratskhelia.

Spain’s AS writer picked Mbappé

Spain had an obvious candidate at the top of its ballot. Yamal, still a teenager, was the man most voters placed above every other finalist on the Ballon d’Or shortlist bar Kane and Mbappé.

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Spain’s own man on the jury, AS writer José Félix Díaz, did not put him first. He put Mbappé first, Yamal second and Kane third.

Garcia suggested the split between Yamal and his compatriot Rodri, who finished fourth, had cost both players shots at the overall title. Spanish names took up two of the top four slots and still could not land one of the top two.

One of the closest results in 70 years

The 28-point gap is smaller than Rodri’s 41-point win over Vinícius Júnior in 2024 and the tightest since Messi edged Van Dijk in 2019. According to L’Équipe, the two tightest men’s finishes on record remain Bobby Charlton’s single-point win over Eusébio in 1966 and Matthias Sammer’s one-point edge over a 20-year-old Ronaldo in 1996.

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