Journalist who voted in Ballon d'Or says he made 'mistake' after surprise top 10 list revealed

The Croatian journalist who voted for the men's Ballon d'Or award has admitted he made a 'mistake' after his top 10 list - in which none of the actual top three featured prominently - was revealed.

The men's award was won by Harry Kane for the first time in his career, while Alexia Putellas won her record-equalling third women's crown at the London Palladium.

While the full list of votes for both awards are yet to emerge, some votes have been published online. Croatian journalist Zdravko Reic, a long-standing member of France Football's voting panel, surprised many by choosing a top three of Rodri, Erling Haaland and Lionel Messi. Kane was ranked down in sixth, while Lamine Yamal, who finished third in the final vote, didn't even make his top 10. And Reic has now admitted he made an error - in not placing Kane higher in his order.

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Ballon d'Or journalist admits mistake in final vote

Reic, who writes for the Croatian outlet Sportske Novosti, wrote in a statement posted by the publication's Instagram account that he acknowledged his 'mistake in evaluating Harry Kane's performance', noting that he heavily weighted the performances of players at the World Cup in his vote.

"Right from the start, I will admit, mea culpa, that as a member of the France Football jury for the 2026 Ballon d'Or, I made a mistake in evaluating Harry Kane's performance, because I ranked him only sixth among the ten footballers of my choice," Reic said.

"It will certainly be immediately noticeable to football fans that among my 10 picks I did not find a place for the favoured, possibly today according to the impressions of the best player in the world, Lamine Yamal, who had a truly peripheral role in the triumph of the Spanish national team at the World Cup.

"Also, many will probably be bothered by the second place of Erling Haaland, whom I treated as an important player of the Norwegian national team which, in my opinion, was a first-class surprise at the tournament."

Reic's full top 10 vote, which contains three players from the successful Spain team at the World Cup, is as follows:

1) Rodri

2) Erling Haaland

3) Lionel Messi

4) Ferran Torres

5) Kylian Mbappe

6) Harry Kane

7) Pau Cubarsi

8) Vitinha

9) Ousmane Dembele

10) Jude Bellingham

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Which other votes have been revealed?

Several other journalists from different countries have decided to publish their men's Ballon d'Or votes. The representative for China voted for a top three of Lionel Messi, Rodri and Ousmane Dembele, while the representative for Italy went with Kylian Mbappe, Rodri and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.

The representative for Colombia, meanwhile, opted for Harry Kane, Rodri and Mbappe as his top three. He included three South American players, with Messi (fourth) followed by Luis Diaz (eighth) and Willian Pacho (ninth). He also placed Mexico striker Julian Quinones in 10th. He defended his selections by describing Pacho as 'the best defender at PSG' and Quinones as having starred at the World Cup.

The English representative is Henry Winter, who has not yet revealed his votes.