The most influential figure behind the Ballon d’Or has revealed exactly why Spain’s world champions failed to secure the coveted crown. Harry Kane’s triumph, he explained, was far from a straightforward victory. Instead, it was the result of an internal voting battle that shattered Spain’s hopes.
Vincent Garcia, editor-in-chief of France Football and head of the Ballon d’Or committee, has broken his silence to explain one of the biggest surprises of the year. England’s Harry Kane walked away with the prestigious award, while not a single player from Spain’s World Cup-winning squad managed to secure a place among the top contenders.
Speaking to French newspaper L’Équipe, Garcia attributed Spain’s failure to “vote-splitting,” a phenomenon that significantly affected La Roja. The fierce competition between two of the national team’s biggest stars, he explained, ultimately worked against both players.
Garcia said: "I honestly believe that Rodri deprived Lamine of some votes. In the World Cup-winning Spanish national team, there was a clear split in votes between Rodri and Lamine Yamal, and this split cost them a great deal."
The veteran French journalist added: "There was a great dispersal of votes among the Spanish players, and more importantly, the Spanish national team was a complete side and an astonishing collective machine. That is why it was almost impossible for the members of the jury to single out and favour one specific individual performance."
Garcia also addressed the case of young star Lamine Yamal, the Barcelona winger who entered the World Cup as one of the leading contenders for the award.
He explained: "Lamine Yamal became a world champion and that is a great achievement, but in truth he scored only one goal and began the tournament while injured. This complicated situation made the jury's task extremely difficult in settling the comparison between the Spanish players."
When asked about his own vote, the head of the award declined to disclose his choice. However, he added to the intrigue by revealing: "I voted for someone who did not win, and I believe he deserved to win too, but you will see everything on Saturday when France Football publishes the full and detailed results."
Turning to the final battle for the title, Garcia revealed that the contest between Kane and Kylian Mbappe went down to the wire, with the outcome decided in the closing stages of the voting process.
He said: "Kylian Mbappe was ahead in the race for most of the voting period, before Harry Kane came back strongly. The gap in points between Kane and Mbappe is extremely small, even less than the gap between Rodri and Vinicius in 2024, which amounted to 41 points."
Garcia also firmly defended the English star, dismissing any suggestion that Kane’s victory was based solely on his team’s collective success.
He signed off with the numbers: "He is above all a great goalscorer. He scored 73 goals with his club and his national team this season, won every title in Germany with Bayern Munich, and reached the semi-final of the Champions League, and with the England national team he reached the semi-final of the World Cup. There is no doubt that the jury felt he was the best and most complete choice among all the contenders."