Journalists from six countries, including Brazil, put Messi first in Ballon d'Or voting
Lionel Messi finished fifth in the 2026 Ballon d'Or. But journalists from six countries, including Argentina and Brazil, voted for him as their first choice.
During the World Cup, Messi was among the favourites to win the Ballon d'Or. The picture changed after Argentina lost the final to Spain. In the end the record eight-time winner placed fifth.
The Ballon d'Or is chosen by a jury of 100 international journalists. A first-place vote is worth 15 points, second place 12 points and third place 10 points. The remaining places in the top ten receive 8, 7, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 points respectively.
On Friday the French outlet L'Equipe published the full points list for the Ballon d'Or. The winner, England star Harry Kane, received the highest total with 1,055 points. Runner-up Kylian Mbappe received 1,027 points.
According to L'Equipe, the gap between Kane and Mbappe is the fourth smallest margin in 70 years of the award's history.
Messi, fifth in the list, received 612 points. The journalists who voted for him as first choice were from Argentina, Brazil, Panama, the United Arab Emirates, China and Belarus. Each of those votes gave him 15 points, for a total of 90 points.
Brazilian journalist Kleber Machado, a former Amazon and Globo reporter and TV commentator, explained his vote for Messi to the Argentine outlet Ole. He said the rivalry had to be set aside.
Machado said Rodri had already won a Ballon d'Or and also played very well at the World Cup. But in his view the World Cup's two best players were Messi and Mbappe, and the French player had produced an extraordinary performance at the tournament.
Explaining his choice further, he said Messi had undoubtedly been the world's best player for the past 15 years. Even at 39 he had again shown his talent and his ability to decide a match. When Argentina were in difficulty, Messi would move to the right and decide the game with just two attacks, and it was because of him that Argentina reached the final again.
