Storyline · sports · 3 reports from 3 newsrooms

Ballon d’Or voting split as Kane wins

First reported Oct 26, 7:57 PM ET · Latest Oct 31, 11:21 AM ET · Explainer updated Oct 28, 7:01 AM ET

Where things stand

Harry Kane captured the men’s Ballon d’Or and Alexia Putellas secured a third women’s award in London, ESPN reports. Italian journalist Paolo Condò, the country’s designated voter, explained his decision to rank Kylian Mbappé ahead of Kane in his top three, Yahoo Sports reports.

Continuum

Facts

Facts appear here as Relay matches them to the reports.

Timeline

What changed: Condò said he omitted Kane from his top three because of specific performance considerations, opting instead for Mbappé.

Every report, newest first

  1. Kane beat Mbappe to Ballon d'Or by just 28 points — BBC Sport

    Voting figures show Harry Kane beat second-placed Kylian Mbappe to the men's Ballon d'Or by one of the tightest winning margins in the award's history.

  2. Italian journalist explains why he voted Mbappe over Kane for 2026 Ballon d’Or — Yahoo Sports

    Paolo Condò was the journalist selected to represent Italy in the 2026 Ballon d’Or voting process, and he has explained why he did not include winner Harry Kane in his top three selections, instead...

  3. LIVE 2026 Ballon d'Or updates: Kane, Putellas take top awards — ESPN

    It was a great night in London as Harry Kane won's the men's award and Alexia Putellas won a third Ballon d'Or Feminin.

Questions

  • The criteria Condò used to prioritize Mbappé over Kane have not been detailed, nor is it clear how other national voters ranked the two players. Open

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More: background

The Ballon d’Or is an annual award recognizing the world’s best football players, with a panel of journalists from each nation casting votes. Each voter submits a ranked list that determines the final winners.

How this works: stories from different newsrooms are grouped by topic, then AI writes the explainer using only those reports. It may miss context the reports don't include.