Revealed: The points gap that denied Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe the 2026 Ballon d’Or

Revealed: The points gap that denied Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe the 2026 Ballon d’Or Real Madrid superstar Kylian Mbappe came agonisingly close to winning his first-ever Ballon d’Or this year. He finished second, just behind Bayern Munich star Harry Kane, who lifted the individual honour after a record-breaking campaign. The Frenchman’s second-place finish was disappoi n ting , and the voting results have now revealed just how close he came. According to France Football (h/t Mundo Deportivo ), Mbappe finished only 28 points behind Kane in the 2026 Ballon d’Or voting. This makes it the narrowest winning margin for any Ballon d’Or winner since the award’s current voting system was introduced. Mbappe loses Ballon d’Or by just 28 points Kane received 1,055 points from the 100 journalists participating in the vote, while Mbappe finished with 1,027. The difference stems from the fact that the Bayern striker received 40 first-place votes compared with Mbappe’s 23, giving him a significant edge. However, their overall totals were very close. Kane appeared among the top ten on 98 ballots, while Mbappe appeared on 97. Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal finished third with 881 points, leaving him 146 points behind Los Blancos ‘ talisman. Another narrow Ballon d’Or disappointment for Real Madrid The result comes as yet another blow to Real Madrid, who experienced a similarly narrow Ballon d’Or defeat involving Vinicius Jr. in 2024. On that occasion, Rodri defeated the Brazilian by just 41 points. Mbappe’s defeat this year is even narrower. The Frenchman had an individual season of dreams, scoring 42 goals in 44 appearances for the Spanish club. More importantly, he went on to have a historic World Cup campaign, scoring 10 goals in the tournament and becoming the all-time leading goalscorer. Harry Kane enjoyed a historic campaign with Bayern Munich. (Photo by Alex Grimm/Getty Images) However, Kane’s greater number of first-place votes ultimately proved decisive in him winning the award. One cannot argue that the Bayern superstar did not deserve it after the season he had, but Mbappe had an equally strong case. The positive for both Real Madrid and the Frenchman is that Mbappe came very close to the elusive trophy this time. If he can have another good individual season and help Madrid secure silverware, no one can stop him from winning the award next year. At 27, Mbappe still has enough time to win the award more than once, and it remains to be seen how things play out next year.