Sports

Kane wins 2026 Ballon d'Or over Mbappé by narrowest points margin ever

France Football has published the full ranking of all 2026 Ballon d'Or nominees after Harry Kane took the award ahead of Kylian Mbappé. The race was decided by the narrowest points margin in the prize's history. According to Al Jazeera's coverage, the gap was 28 points, the smallest since the current voting system was adopted.

روسيا اليوم (RT Arabic)Saturday, October 31, 2026, 01:27Covered by 2 sources

Illustrative photo: Bronze football-shaped trophy top against a blurred green background. Photo by Abidemi Kusimo on Unsplash

Why it matters

The slim margin highlights how tightly contested the race was between two of the world's leading strikers. The result is likely to spark wide debate among football fans across the region.

Background

The Ballon d'Or is a prestigious individual award in football, presented by the French magazine France Football. The winner is decided by a points-based vote, after which the magazine publishes the detailed ranking of the nominees.

How outlets covered it

Both outlets agree on the core facts: Harry Kane beat Kylian Mbappé by a record-narrow margin, and France Football published the figures and rankings. RT Arabic highlighted the publication of the full ranking of all nominees and described the gap as the narrowest in the award's history. Al Jazeera put the figure of 28 points in its headline, focused on the "official figures" of the vote, and said the margin was unprecedented since the current voting system was adopted. The two therefore frame the scope of the record differently: "in the history of the award" for RT Arabic, "since the current system was adopted" for Al Jazeera.