It wasn’t quite the tightest Ballon d’Or race ever, but Harry Kane edged out Kylian Mbappe by just 28 points for the 2026 award. There wasn’t that much controversy surrounding the decision, as Kane had a historic season in many regards.

Kane had his work cut out for him, as a lot of other players picked up a lot of points. Lamine Yamal came in third place, with Spain teammate Rodri right behind him. Rounding out the top five was Lionel Messi, who was the star of the show at the 2026 FIFA World Cup at 39 years old.

Messi wasn’t just a bystander when it came to the Ballon d’Or race either. He got legitimate consideration to win the award. France Football revealed the six jurors who voted Messi for first place.

Argentina, Belarus, Brazil, China, Panama, and UAE journalists voted for Lionel Messi to be Ballon d'Or winner

Unsurprisingly, Argentina’s representative voted for him. More surprisingly, though, rival Brazil’s rep also gave him a first place vote.

• Argentina: Ezequiel Fernandez Moores (from La Nacion)
• Belarus: Serguei Nikolaiev (from Pressball)
• Brazil: Cleber Machado (from Record TV)
• China: Luo Ming (from Titan Sports)
• Panama: Humberto Cornejo (from La Prensa)
• United Arab Emirates: Osama Mohamed Alamri (from Abu Dhabi Sports TV)

The fact that Messi was able to finish so high in voting, despite being nearly 40 years old and also while playing in MLS - a league that isn’t considered elite by any journalist - is a true feat. His 2026 FIFA World Cup campaign will go down in the record books and be talked about for quite some time.