Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane’s victory margin over Kylian Mbappé in the 2026 Ballon d’Or voting was exceptionally narrow, even narrower than the 41-point differential that separated Rodri and Vinícius Júnior in 2024.
Vincent Garcia, the editor of France Football who oversees the prestigious award, disclosed the detail following the presentation of the honor to the English forward at a ceremony held in London on Monday.
Speaking to L’Équipe after Monday evening’s event at the London Palladium, Garcia emphasized that the competition between the leading two contenders was determined by an extraordinarily minimal point differential.
France Football will unveil the comprehensive voting results on Saturday.
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.
“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 won the award 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.
Kane additionally contributed six goals during the 2026 World Cup tournament, where England achieved a third-place finish. He is the first English player to claim the Ballon d’Or award since Michael Owen’s achievement in 2001.
Mbappé secured the runner-up position, achieving his best-ever position in the competition, while Lamine Yamal took third place.
The Real Madrid forward topped the scoring rankings in La Liga with 25 goals, the UEFA Champions League with 15 goals and the World Cup with 10 goals.
DAILY POST.