Ballon d'Or voter admits ranking Kane sixth and leaving Yamal out of his top 10 was a mistake

Croatian journalist Zdravko Reic has publicly admitted he made an error in his Ballon d’Or ballot after placing Harry Kane sixth and leaving Lamine Yamal outside his top 10 — despite Kane winning the award and Yamal finishing third overall at the ceremony in London.

Reic, who writes for Sportske Novosti and served as Croatia’s representative on France Football’s 100-journalist voting panel, topped his personal list with Rodri, followed by Erling Haaland and Lionel Messi. He placed three Spain internationals — Rodri, Ferran Torres and Pau Cubarsi — ahead of Yamal, who claimed the Kopa Trophy for the best young player on the night.

“Right from the start, I will admit, mea culpa, that as a member of the France Football jury for the 2026 Ballon d’Or, I made a mistake in evaluating Harry Kane’s performance, because I ranked him only sixth among the 10 footballers of my choice,” Reic wrote in a social media post published by his outlet.

On the omission of Yamal, Reic offered a rationale rather than a straightforward apology. “It will certainly be immediately noticeable to football fans that among my 10 picks I did not find a place for the favoured, possibly today according to the impressions of the best player in the world, Lamine Yamal, who had a truly peripheral role in the triumph of the Spanish national team at the World Cup,” he said.

He also defended his decision to rank Haaland second, citing the Norwegian’s impact at the tournament. “Many will probably be bothered by the second place of Erling Haaland, whom I treated as an important player of the Norwegian national team which, in my opinion, was a first-class surprise at the tournament.”

Reic’s full top 10 read: Rodri, Haaland, Messi, Ferran Torres, Kylian Mbappé, Kane, Cubarsi, Vitinha, Ousmane Dembélé, Jude Bellingham.

Kane’s victory marked the first time an English player had won the Ballon d’Or in 25 years, since Michael Owen claimed the honour. An emotional Kane addressed the crowd at the London ceremony: “Wow, wow, wow. I’m almost speechless. 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 team-mates and world-class players in the room.”

The voting process sees one journalist from each of the top 100 FIFA-ranked nations score a 30-player shortlist prepared by France Football’s editorial staff, alongside a representative from the previous year’s jury and UEFA delegates.