Harry Kane ‘stealed’ the Golden Ball to Kylian Mbappé for only 28 points. Portugal was represented by António Tadeia, who put Lamine Yamal first, and the English international only sixth.
© Getty Images
31/10/2026
by
A prestigious magazine France Football put, this Friday, a final point in the ‘suspense’, when unveiling all the accounts of the Golden Ball, trophy delivered annually to the best player in the world, and that, in this calendar year of 2026, it ended up at the hands of Harry Kane... for a (very) short margin.
Bayern Munich’s English international collected 1,055 points from the votes deposited by the 100 sports journalists from all over the planet chosen to participate, while the second ranked, Kylian Mbappé, French from Real Madrid, remained at 1,027, which represents a difference of only 28 points, one of the most marginal of all time.
The Spanish duo of Barcelona was composed of Lamine Yamal and Rodri Hernández, respectively, with 881 and 726 points. Lionel Messi of Inter Miami was ranked fifth, with 612 points, ahead of two Paris Saint-Germain players, namely Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, with 541, and Ousmane Dembélé, with 418.
Closing the top10 on this list were Erling Haaland (Norway Manchester City, with 378 points), Michael Olise (French Bayern Munich, with 296 points) and Fabián Ruiz (Spanish Paris Saint-Germain, with 201 points), though the latter won the World Cup and the Champions League.
Vitinha was the best ranked Portuguese, with a 14th place, obtained thanks to 59 points. Below are his two countrymen from PSG, João Neves (in the 19th position, with 15 points) and Nuno Mendes (in the 23rd with the same eight points from Luis Díaz, Colombian who militates in Bayern Munich).
As for Bruno Fernandes, Portuguese captain of Manchester United, he collected the same five points. of Dayot Upamecano, the Gauls-central defense of Bayern Munich, so he had to be satisfied with a 27th rank, only ahead of Julián Quiñones (with four points), Sadio Mané and William Saliba (with two each).
Who did you vote for?
Portugal was represented in this suffrage by António Tadeia, RTP sports commentator, who put Lamine Yamal first, Kylian Mbappé second, Erling Haaland third, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia fourth and Pau Cubarsí fifth. Harry Kane, who was to win the Golden Ball, was only his sixth choice.
Shortly behind, he elected Lionel Messi, in seventh position, Nuno Mendes, in eighth, Lautaro Martínez, in ninth, and closing the top10, Rodri Hernández. This is in a vote that brings together journalists from all over the world each year, and the highest rank is worth 15 points, and the remaining 12, 10, 8, 7, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 respectively.
After the accounts, there were 40 countries that put Harry Kane first, more specifically South Africa, England, Angola, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Denmark, Scotland, Republic of Ireland, Haiti, Hungary, Iran, Northern Ireland, Israel, Jamaica, Japan, Kosovo, Luxembourg, Montenegro, Norway, New Zealand, Oman, Uganda, Uzbekistan, Poland, Russia, El Salvador, Senegal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Uruguay and Venezuela.
In addition to Portugal, Albania, Algeria, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Honduras, Turkey, Jordan, North Macedonia, Mexico, Wales, Switzerland and Tunisia have deposited their 15 points in Lamine Yamal.