"France Football" editor: K. Mbappé came within a hair's breadth of the award

2026-10-27 16:00 © Phd Press/TheNews2/Cover Images

Vincent Garcia, editor-in-chief of France Football magazine, revealed that there was an extremely narrow points gap between Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappé in the Ballon d’Or voting.

Kane collected the award at a ceremony held in London yesterday, while Mbappé finished second, ahead of Lamine Yamal, the Barcelona winger who placed third.

Although the Real Madrid forward did not win any major team titles last season, his impressive goalscoring record for the club and the France national team at the 2026 World Cup made him a serious contender for the prize.

"The difference was even smaller than in 2024 between Rodri and Vinícius, when they were separated by 41 points. And even then, the competition was extremely close,” said V. Garcia.

"Mbappé led for a long time, but Kane eventually won.

Kylian had an extraordinary season. This year’s battle for first place between H. Kane and K. Mbappé was incredibly close,” the magazine’s editor added.