Harry Kane edged out Kylian Mbappe for the Ballon d’Or in what was one of the closest votes in the award’s history.The England captain beat his nearest challenger by just 28 points to become the first Englishman to win the iconic Golden Ball award in 25 years.Harry Kane became the fifth Englishman to win the Ballon d’Or earlier this weekAFPOn Monday night, and fittingly at the London Palladium, Bayern Munich superstar Kane was crowned as the best footballer in the world by winning the prestigious individual honour.Award chief Vincent Garcia had already teased that the former Tottenham striker only claimed glory by a razor-thin margin.And the full voting breakdown, which was published by French outlet L’Equipe on Friday, proved the prize went down to the wire.How close was the Ballon d’Or voting?The 33-year-old earned 40 first-place votes for a total of 1,055 points.That put him just 28 points ahead of Mbappe, despite the runner-up only garnering 23 first-place nods for a total of 1,027 points.In total, it was the fourth-closest vote in the France Football award’s illustrious 70-year history, as per L’Equipe.Indeed, Kane’s triumph was also the closest race between first and second since Lionel Messi beat Virgil van Dijk by seven points in 2019.Lamine Yamal trailed Kane and Mbappe by some distance in third, with Rodri and Messi also 100 points-plus adrift of each other as well.The Ballon d’Or was decided by 100 international journalists, with 15 points awarded for every first-place nomination.Kane scored an incredible 73 goals in 65 matches for Bayern and England combinedThose named in second received 12 points, ten for third place, then eight, seven, five, four, three, two, and one point for the rest of the top ten.Harry Kane discusses potential knighthoodThe Three Lions skipper delivered a typically measured response to suggestions that he could be honoured by the royal family.“I wouldn’t say no to it [a knighthood,] that’s for sure,” Kane told reporters on Wednesday.“If it happens it’ll be incredible, and something I’ll be massively proud of. But I don’t want to get too carried away. “It would sound good, but I’d feel weird everyone calling me Sir. So we’ll just keep it as Harry for now.”In his celebration speech, he remarked: “I’m almost speechless. (Luckily) I have this list here.Full Men's Ballon d'Or resultsHarry Kane (England, Bayern Munich): 1,055 points.Kylian Mbappé (France, Real Madrid): 1,027 pointsLamine Yamal (Spain, FC Barcelona): 881 pointsRodri (Spain, Manchester City, Barcelona): 726 pointsLionel Messi (Argentina, Inter Miami): 612 points.Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (Georgia, Paris Saint-Germain): 541 pointsOusmane Dembélé (France, Paris Saint-Germain): 418 pointsErling Haaland (Norway, Manchester City): 378 pointsMichael Olise (France, Bayern Munich): 296 pointsFabián Ruiz (Spain, Paris Saint-Germain): 201 pointsJude Bellingham (England, Real Madrid): 107 pointsPau Cubarsí (Spain, FC Barcelona): 101 pointsAchraf Hakimi (Morocco, Paris Saint-Germain): 65 pointsVitinha (Portugal, Paris Saint-Germain): 59 pointsDeclan Rice (England, Arsenal): 57 pointsFerran Torres (Spain, FC Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain since August 2026): 44 points.Vinícius Júnior (Brazil, Real Madrid): 26 pointsMarc Cucurella (Spain, Real Madrid): 16 pointsJoão Neves (Portugal, Paris Saint-Germain): 15 pointsWillian Pacho (Ecuador, Paris Saint-Germain): 12 pointsGabriel (Brazil, Arsenal): 11 pointsLautaro Martínez (Argentina, Inter Milan): 11 pointsNuno Mendes (Portugal, Paris Saint-Germain): 8 pointsLuis Díaz (Colombia, Bayern Munich): 8 pointsMarquinhos (Brazil, Paris Saint-Germain): 7 pointsDayot Upamecano (France, Bayern Munich): 5 pointsBruno Fernandes (Portugal, Manchester United): 5 pointsJulián Quiñones (Mexico, Al-Qadsiah): 4 pointsSadio Mané (Senegal, Al Nassr), William Saliba (France, Arsenal): 2 points“Thank you to France Football, to the Ballon d’Or for putting on this amazing event.“Being here in London has made it extra special. It looked like a good omen for me tonight so thank you very much.“Thank you to everyone who voted for me, I can imagine it was really tough this year, some of the incredible players I was up against, some of my teammates, some world-class players in the room tonight.”