Ballon d’Or: José Mourinho speaks out on the rankings!

The Portuguese praises Harry Kane, backs Kylian Mbappé and is surprised by his English midfielder's 11th-place finish

Ballon d'Or Today at 11:00

Add Foot Africa on Google

Ballon d’Or: José Mourinho speaks out on the rankings!

José Mourinho reacted to the 2026 Ballon d’Or rankings, showing respect for Harry Kane, backing Kylian Mbappé and expressing confusion over Jude Bellingham’s position.

The 11th-place finish of Jude Bellingham has not gone down well with his manager. Speaking ahead of Real Madrid’s trip to Santander, José Mourinho commented on the 2026 Ballon d’Or results. The Portuguese acknowledged the winner Harry Kane’s merit, but questioned the treatment of his midfielder.

Harry Kane beats Mbappé by 28 points

The breakdown of the votes published by France Football confirms a close battle at the top of the 2026 Ballon d’Or rankings. Here is the podium:

Harry Kane - Bayern Munich, 1,055 points.
Kylian Mbappé - Real Madrid, 1,027 points.
Lamine Yamal - FC Barcelona, 881 points.

Finishing second, Mbappé recorded the best ranking of his career. Kane received 40 first-place votes, compared with 23 for the Frenchman: a decisive advantage despite the narrow gap between them in the overall tally.

Mourinho congratulates Kane and defends Mbappé

In comments reported by Foot Mercato, Mourinho praised a player he managed at Tottenham: “I had the privilege of working with Harry. He is a great man in every respect.”

Disappointed that none of his players won the trophy, he nevertheless believes Kane deserved his triumph. Regarding Mbappé, the coach emphasized his maturity and his attitude toward the result: “He has class.”

Eleventh-placed Bellingham leaves Mourinho perplexed

With 107 points, Bellingham finished just behind Fabián Ruiz, who was 10th with 201 points. Vinícius Júnior ranked 17th with 26 points, while Marc Cucurella was 18th with 16 points.

“What leaves me speechless about the voting is seeing Bellingham in 11th place. No comment,” Mourinho said. A forthright reaction before returning to La Liga on Sunday against Racing Santander.

This article follows our newsroom’s editorial standards. To learn more about how we create and fact-check our content, see our Editorial Policy .