Harry Kane won the Ballon d’Or in London on 26 October, ending a season in which the Bayern Munich striker scored 73 goals for club and country.
Kane’s success made him the first Englishman to win the award since Michael Owen in 2001. Bayern Munich also claimed all three domestic trophies, strengthening the case for the England captain.
However, his victory came amid debate over the voting, with Kylian Mbappe finishing second, Lamine Yamal third and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia sixth.
Mbappe scored 42 goals in 44 matches for Real Madrid before adding 10 more at the World Cup, where he won the Golden Boot. He was also the leading scorer in three of the biggest tournaments.
Real Madrid did not win the Champions League and France failed to lift the World Cup, but Mbappe’s supporters questioned whether team trophies should outweigh such individual numbers. The gap between Kane and Mbappe was fewer than 41 points, according to France Football editor-in-chief Vincent Garcia. Mbappe had led the count for a significant period before Kane moved ahead.
Yamal’s third place also prompted surprise. The 19-year-old scored 16 goals and provided 12 assists while helping Barcelona win the Spanish championship and being named La Liga’s best player.
He then won the World Cup with Spain after Argentina were defeated. Rodri was named the tournament’s best player, but Yamal’s contribution led some to believe he should have ranked higher than third.
Kvaratskhelia was another notable omission from the leading positions. The Georgia international scored 10 goals and registered six assists in the Champions League, including a double in the semi-final against Bayern Munich.
He also won a penalty in the final against Arsenal as PSG secured the competition for a second successive year. UEFA named Kvaratskhelia the Champions League’s best player, yet he finished sixth in the Ballon d’Or voting and did not make the top five.
Garcia said votes for Spanish players were split between Yamal and Rodri, while PSG had not settled on a single candidate to support for the award. That division was regarded as one reason Kane was able to prevail.
Further confusion emerged before the ceremony when articles on the official Ballon d’Or website appeared to name Kane, Mbappe and Yamal as winners. The posts were quickly removed, with organisers attributing them to a technical mix-up. There was no evidence of vote-rigging, although the incident added to the unease surrounding the result.
Kane’s award was based on an outstanding campaign and was not considered undeserved. But the result again raised questions about how voters compare a prolific goalscorer, a World Cup winner and the leading player in the Champions League.
With the Ballon d’Or decided by journalists rather than directly on the pitch, arguments over its winner are likely to continue.
