Nigeria journalist snubs Kane, Mbappe and Yamal in Ballon d'Or vote

The official voting breakdown for the 2026 Men's Ballon d'Or has exposed several polarising ballots, with Nigerian representative Samm Audu standing out for completely omitting the overall top three from his own podium.

France Football released the comprehensive voting data on Friday, highlighting disparities in how the 100 international journalists evaluated the world's best players.

Audu, a veteran sports journalist and the publisher of ScoreNigeria, serves as the sole voting representative for the African nation.

His submitted ballot deviated from the global consensus, controversially placing eventual winner Harry Kane in a lowly seventh position.

While the jury ultimately crowned Kane over Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappé and Barcelona's Lamine Yamal, Audu did not place a single one of those three players in his highest spots.

Instead, the Nigerian journalist awarded his highly valuable first-place vote to Manchester City midfielder Rodri.

Rodri, who secured the World Cup best player award following Spain's 2026 FIFA World Cup  triumph, ultimately finished fourth in the overall standings.

Audu shocked observers by placing Paris Saint-Germain winger Ousmane Dembélé in second place, while Manchester City striker Erling Haaland took his third spot.

The remainder of Audu's official ballot featured Inter Miami's Lionel Messi (4th), Mbappé (5th), Yamal (6th), Kane (7th), Real Madrid's Jude Bellingham (8th), Bayern Munich's Michael Olise (9th), and Manchester United's Bruno Fernandes (10th).

Despite missing out on significant points from the Nigerian voting bloc, Kane successfully captured the golden ball in a remarkably tight race.

The Bayern Munich and England striker secured 1,055 total points, edging out Mbappé's 1,027 points by a razor-thin 28-point margin.

Kane's victory came from a historically dominant 2025/26 season, in which he scored 73 goals in 65 appearances across all competitions for club and country.

His elite finishing secured Bayern Munich the 2025/26 Bundesliga title and the DFB-Pokal, ultimately convincing the majority of the 100 global jurors that he deserved his maiden Ballon d'Or.