Harry Kane Edges Kylian Mbappe by 28 Points to Claim Ballon d'Or
Harry Kane won his first Ballon d'Or by a narrow 28-point margin over Kylian Mbappe, with Lamine Yamal taking third place in one of the tightest votes in history.
Harry Kane secured his first-ever Ballon d'Or on Monday, edging out Kylian Mbappe by a margin of just 28 points, voting results revealed on Friday. The English striker, currently starring for Manchester United, topped the poll with 1,055 points, while Real Madrid's French forward finished second with 1,027 points. Barcelona prodigy Lamine Yamal, who triumphed with Spain at the World Cup, rounded out the podium in third place with 881 points.
This represents the second-tightest voting margin in the history of the Ballon d'Or. The record remains the dramatic 2019 vote, when Lionel Messi narrowly outpaced Virgil van Dijk by a razor-thin margin of just seven points.
A breakdown of the ballots shows that 40 participating journalists placed Kane at the summit of their rankings, whereas 23 selected Mbappe as their primary choice. In a surprising twist, the German media representative opted for Mbappe over the former Bayern Munich star. Meanwhile, minor anomalies saw two journalists omit Kane entirely from their top ten, three exclude Mbappe, and four leave Yamal off their ballots completely.
