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Ballon d'Or 2026: No juror ranked Dembélé first, an anomaly for the defending champion

Crowned in 2025, Ousmane Dembélé received no first-place votes from the 100 international journalists on the jury and finished only seventh overall with 418 points.

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Ballon d'Or 2026: No juror ranked Dembélé first, an anomaly for the defending champion
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Ousmane Dembélé finished the 2026 Ballon d’Or in seventh place with 418 points, without a single one of the 100 international jurors ranking him first on their ballot — a first for a defending champion in office.

The Paris Saint-Germain forward had dominated the previous edition with authority, ahead of Lamine Yamal by 321 points (1,380 to 1,059) and his teammate Vitinha by 677 points. This year, despite another Ligue des Champions title won with the capital club, “Dembouz” failed to convert his presence in many Top 10s into first-place votes.

Winner Harry Kane prevailed with 40 first-place votes, well ahead of Kylian Mbappé (23), Lamine Yamal (13), Rodri (10) and Lionel Messi (6). The details of these votes, revealed Friday evening by L’Équipe, illustrate the dominance of the Bayern Munich striker in this edition and the relative decline of Dembélé, 29, whose season apparently did not convince jurors to give him the top spot.

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