Kylian Mbappe finished second in the Ballon d’Or voting behind Harry Kane, despite recording his best-ever position in the award, as the result triggered widespread anger in France after Monday’s ceremony in London.
The Real Madrid forward travelled to the event convinced he had a strong chance of winning the prestigious prize, with the outcome remaining uncertain until the final moments.
Vincent Garcia, editor-in-chief of France Football, told L’Equipe: “The voting was extremely close, even closer than the vote between Rodri and Vinicius.”
The report said the Spanish winner prevailed by only 41 points over the Brazilian, meaning France captain Mbappe narrowly missed out on being named the world’s best player.
His achievement of making a record 10th consecutive appearance among the 30 finalists, as well as securing his highest finish, was not enough to deliver the prize.
A decade of near misses
When Mbappe emerged as a teenager with Monaco at the age of 16, he was widely viewed in France as the natural successor to Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Yet, at 27 – he turns 28 in December – the Real Madrid striker is still waiting for his first Ballon d’Or. Before this year, his best result had been third place in 2023, behind Erling Haaland, who was expected to challenge him for the leading role in football for the next decade.
The rise of Lamine Yamal, the outstanding form of fellow Frenchman Ousmane Dembele at Paris Saint-Germain and Kane’s continued ambition have combined to frustrate those expectations.
Mbappe’s two most recent seasons without major honours also had a significant influence on the voting. Although he was the leading scorer at the World Cup, La Liga and the Champions League – surpassing Messi’s record at the World Cup – his lack of major trophies prevented him from overtaking Kane.
He left for London believing this could finally be his year, but Kane’s late success ended that challenge. Mbappe embraced the Bayern Munich striker before Kane went on stage to deliver his emotional speech, then returned to Madrid empty-handed with mixed feelings of happiness and disappointment.
His individual record remains exceptional. Mbappe is the only French player in history to receive 10 consecutive Ballon d’Or nominations, and at the age of 22 he matched Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo as the youngest player to finish inside the world’s top 10 four times.
Paris Saint-Germain absent
Dembele was the only Paris Saint-Germain player at the London ceremony, representing the club after winning the previous edition. He finished seventh this year and sat alongside Mbappe and Michael Olise to watch the final results.
Paris Saint-Germain had a record 10 players among the 30 nominees, but no senior club official travelled to England. The club had a rearranged Ligue 1 match against Olympique Lyonnais at the same time.
Paris Saint-Germain were named the world’s best club for a second consecutive year, with Dembele collecting the award on stage. Club president Nasser Al-Khelaifi, whose absence was announced hours before the ceremony, and sporting director Luis Campos instead travelled to the Parc des Princes.
After Paris Saint-Germain’s 2-0 victory over Lyon, manager Luis Enrique said: “Did we win the world’s best team award? Congratulations to all the fans!”
Enrique did not win the world’s best coach award, which went to fellow Spaniard Luis de la Fuente after his World Cup success with Spain. Days earlier, Enrique had said he was not interested in anything connected with the ceremony and predicted the Ballon d’Or would go to a Paris Saint-Germain player.
