Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane beat Kylian Mbappé to the 2026 Ballon d’Or by an exceptionally narrow margin, with the gap reportedly smaller than the 41-point difference between Rodri and Vinícius Júnior in 2024.
Vincent Garcia, editor of France Football, which oversees the prestigious award, disclosed this after Kane was crowned the winner at a ceremony held at the London Palladium on Monday evening.
Speaking to French newspaper L’Équipe after the ceremony, Garcia said the contest between the two leading contenders was decided by a remarkably small point difference.
Garcia said, “The points gap between Kane and Mbappé was smaller than the gap between Rodri and Vinícius Júnior in 2024, which was 41 points, and that was already a very narrow margin at the time.
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“Kylian led the race for a long time, but Harry Kane came back into contention, and in the end, it was decided by a very, very small number of points.”
The 33-year-old Kane secured the accolade for the first time following an impressive tally of 73 goals across 65 appearances for Bayern Munich and the England national team.
Bayern Munich captured both the Bundesliga championship and the DFB-Pokal trophy during the preceding season.
