Harry Kane clinches Ballon d'Or by narrow 28-point margin over Kylian Mbappe

England captain Harry Kane secured the men's Ballon d'Or with 1,055 points, finishing 28 points ahead of Real Madrid forward Kylian Mbappe, who received 1,027 points, according to voting figures released on Saturday. Kane became the first English player to claim the award since Michael Owen in 2001, while Mbappe recorded his best result to date, ahead of Spain forward Lamine Yamal, who placed third with 881 points.

The 28-point gap marks the narrowest winning margin since Lionel Messi's seven-point victory over Virgil van Dijk in 2019, and follows two historic one-point wins in the award's history – Bobby Charlton over Eusebio in 1966 and Matthias Sammer over Ronaldo in 1996.

Ronaldo, who presented the trophy to Kane in London on Monday, previously won the Ballon d'Or in 1997 and 2002, a feat that may inspire Mbappe for future campaigns.