Ballon d'Or Ballot Reveals Journalist's Apology to Harry Kane

Harry Kane has narrowly won the Ballon d'Or, and as more voting ballots are revealed, a Croatian journalist has apologized to the Bayern Munich star for ranking him too low. Zdravko Reić, a jury member since 1992, placed Kane sixth in his top 10, giving him only five of 15 possible points. He admitted in an interview that this was a mistake, explaining he based his rankings primarily on performances at the World Cup, where he placed Rodri first, followed by Haaland, Messi, Torres, and Mbappé. Other ballots show Kane performed well in most countries, topping rankings in Russia, Kosovo, and Uzbekistan, while receiving only one point in Czech Republic and missing the top three in Italy. The jury consisted of 100 journalists from the top 100 FIFA-ranked nations, with points awarded from 15 for first place down to one for tenth.