2026 Ballon d’Or: Official Explains Why Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal Lost Top Award to Harry Kane
- France Football editor-in-chief Vincent Garcia explained what he believes cost Lamine Yamal the 2026 Ballon d'Or despite a stellar season
- Garcia pointed to a split in the Spanish vote between Yamal and Rodri as a key factor that may have weakened the Barcelona forward's chances
- Yamal finished third behind Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappe but won the Kopa Trophy for a record third consecutive time at the London ceremony
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Harry Kane claimed the 2026 Ballon d'Or on Monday night, ending Lamine Yamal's bid to become the youngest player ever to win football's most prestigious individual award.
Kylian Mbappe finished second, with the Barcelona winger settling for third place, though he did collect the Kopa Trophy for a third successive time.
Source: Getty Images
Why Yamal missed out on Golden Ball
France Football's editor-in-chief, Vincent Garcia, told L'Equipe that the fragmentation of votes among Spain's standout players likely hurt Yamal's chances in the final tally, Barca Blaugranes reports.
"I do think there was a split in the voting between Rodri and Lamine Yamal from that Spanish team that won the World Cup," Garcia said.
"I think Rodri took votes away from Lamine in this ballot. There was some fragmentation of the Spanish vote and, above all, Spain stood out as a team. That's why it was difficult to single out one individual performance as being clearly above the rest."
Garcia also confirmed that the contest for first place was extraordinarily tight.
"The battle between Kane and Mbappé was incredibly close," he said.
"The gap was even smaller than the one between Rodri and Vinícius in 2024, which was 41 points, and that was already a slim margin. Mbappé led the race for a long time, but Kane ultimately came out on top. Mbappé had an extraordinary season. The race between Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappé for first place this year was unbelievably close."
Yamal's emotional reaction at the London ceremony
At the ceremony held in London, the 19-year-old appeared visibly heartbroken when Kane's name was announced.
Despite ending his season with 25 goals and 20 assists, a World Cup winners' medal with Spain, and a La Liga title reclaimed with Barcelona, Yamal walked away without the Golden Ball for the second consecutive year, Intel Region reports.
The previous year, he had finished second behind Ousmane Dembele.
Media commentators have since debated whether the sheer weight of Yamal's trophy haul should have counted for more than Kane's prolific goalscoring record when the votes were cast.
Yamal dedicates Kopa Trophy to Pau Cubarsi
Despite the disappointment of missing out on the main prize, Yamal's conduct at the podium drew widespread attention.
Accepting an unprecedented third straight Kopa Trophy, he chose to direct the spotlight away from himself entirely, saying he wished his Barcelona and Spain teammate Pau Cubarsi had been on the stage instead.
Yamal said he believed Cubarsi genuinely deserved the honour given the young defender's excellent and consistent performances throughout the season.
The gesture was widely noted by those present at the ceremony.
Yamal has previously made clear that he will not lobby for votes or campaign publicly ahead of award seasons, preferring to let his football do the talking.
Yamal hires private jet to attend Ballon d'Or
Legit.ng previously reported about Yamal’s decision to hire a private jet to attend the 2026 Ballon d’Or ceremony in London with his family and close friends.
The 19-year-old finished second in the previous vote, but won the Kopa Trophy.
Source: Legit.ng
