Ballon d'Or chief admits Kane had late surge as rival led voting for 'a long time'

Harry Kane wasn't poised to win the Ballon d'Or with Kylian Mbappe "leading the race for a long time", according to the editor of France Football, who hand out the prestigious award.

Kane arrived to the ceremony in London among the favourites to scoop the award, but opinion was split as to whether he, Mbappe or Lamine Yamal would win it given they all had their own individual cases.

The Bayern Munich star would end the night with the Golden Ball, making him the first English winner since Michael Owen in 2001, following his best season to date in front of goal. Mbappe would finish second after ending as the top scorer in La Liga, the Champions League and the World Cup.

The Real Madrid star, now 27, is yet to win the Ballon d'Or in his career but the editor of France Football, Vincent Garcia, admits he was ahead for a long period before being narrowly beaten by Kane.

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He said: “I was watching the results in real time during the month of the vote. Kylian Mbappe led the race for a long time, but Harry Kane came back into contention, and in the end, it was decided by a very, very small number of points.”

Before the night had kicked off there was a major admin error with Kane, Mbappe and Yamal all being announced as winners on the official Ballon d'Or website hours before the ceremony in London.

Kane said after being handed the Ballon d'Or: "It's just the journey. For any young boy or girl who wants to achieve their dream, anything is possible. I hope my journey, it wasn't straightforward, I didn't go straight to the top, I had to experience a lot of loan moves and fight my way to get to where I am now. I hope that can give you inspiration, and thank you very much."

Mbappe ended the night trophyless, but second is the closest he's come during his career. The France star's previous best was third back in 2023. Yamal meanwhile won the Kopa Trophy for the third successive year, marking him out as the best young player of his generation.

However the Barcelona ace claimed his teammate, young Spain centre-half Pau Cubarsi, should've been the man to win the award ahead of him, but he came up narrowly short.

"I'd have liked it to be [teammate Pau] Cubarsi," Yamal said during a brief speech. "This prize should have been for him. He deserves it."