London: Kylian Mbappé’s second-place finish has become the main talking point after Harry Kane was crowned the 2026 Ballon d’Or winner at the London Palladium on Monday.

Kane became the first Englishman in 25 years to win the award, with Mbappé second and Lamine Yamal third. Rodri finished fourth and Lionel Messi fifth.

Mbappé Misses Out Despite Prolific Year

The Real Madrid forward’s case rested on a heavy goal tally. Mbappé scored 42 goals in 44 appearances for Real Madrid, finished as the Champions League’s leading scorer and won the World Cup Golden Boot with ten goals. He also became the tournament’s all-time leading scorer, with 22 World Cup goals.

Even so, 13 prizes were handed out at the Palladium, yet Mbappé did not receive a single one. Ahead of the ceremony, it had been suggested that his lack of team trophies almost certainly put him out of contention for the top prize. The jury’s reasoning has not been published.

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Kane Ends the Wait

Kane’s numbers were larger still. He scored 73 goals in 65 games for club and country, including 61 in 51 for Bayern. His tally included 36 goals in 31 Bundesliga matches, making him the league’s top scorer for the third consecutive season, and he claimed the European Golden Shoe for the second time.

Bayern also collected silverware. The club won the Bundesliga and the DFB-Pokal, before Paris Saint-Germain ended their Champions League run in the semi-finals. In Europe, Kane’s 14 Champions League goals left him one behind Mbappé. The England captain had also never finished higher than tenth in the voting before this year.

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Yamal and Messi Also in the Discussion

Yamal’s third place followed a World Cup-winning summer. He lifted the trophy with Spain, and he had been odds-on to win before Kane overtook him as the bookmakers’ favourite.

Messi, 39, finished fifth. It was the second time he has finished in that position, after 2018, and he was outside the top 30 in each of the last two years.

With the award decided by a journalists’ panel, the question of who was most unfortunate is a matter of opinion. On the numbers alone, though, Mbappé’s record-setting World Cup and Champions League scoring lead make his second place the result most likely to be debated.