GOAL reported that Vincent Garcia, editor-in-chief of France Football magazine and head of the Ballon d'Or committee, spoke to French newspaper L'Equipe about this year's Ballon d'Or voting, explaining why Harry Kane won the award and why Spain's World Cup-winning players were split in the vote.
Vote split in Spain's team
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."
Garcia said: "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."
Yamal's case
Garcia said: "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."
Garcia keeps his own vote private
Garcia refused to reveal his own vote. He said: "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."
Kane's edge over Mbappe
Garcia 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 said: "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."