Frans van den Nieuwenhof said on Wednesday to Voetbalprimeur that he put Kylian Mbappe first, Rodri second and Harry Kane third in his 2026 Ballon d'Or ballot. Kane won the 2026 Ballon d'Or ahead of Mbappe and Lamine Yamal following a 73-goal campaign.
Top three revealed
Van den Nieuwenhof has been responsible for the Netherlands' Ballon d'Or votes for the last 24 years. On Wednesday, he revealed that his top three were Mbappe, Rodri and Kane.
How he chose
Van den Nieuwenhof picks his Ballon d'Or winner based on individual performances rather than team performance and fair play. He said: "I find individual performance the most important factor, even though it's a team sport."
Van den Nieuwenhof said: "That says that you don't pick a player from Spain per se, just because they're the world champions. That happened a lot in the past, but we saw with Messi and Ronaldo that that principle was let go of."
Official result and pending details
Kane won the 2026 Ballon d'Or ahead of Mbappe and Yamal after a 73-goal campaign. France Football and L'Équipe had not yet revealed the point totals. It is expected that the full breakdown will be published on Saturday, October 31.
