Ballon d’Or: Nigerian voter places Rodri first
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Punch
The Nigerian journalist who voted in the 2026 Ballon d’Or placed Spain’s Rodri first, ahead of Harry Kane and Ousmane Dembélé, among others. Rodri finished fourth overall with 726 points, while Kane won the award with 1,055 points, according to the breakdown published by France Football.
The Nigerian journalist who took part in the 2026 Ballon d’Or vote ranked Spanish midfielder Rodri first, according to the voting breakdown published on Friday by France Football and reported by Punch. Nigeria was among the ten countries that placed the player at the top of their ballot.
Rodri finished fourth overall with 726 points, behind Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane, who won with 1,055 points, Real Madrid striker Kylian Mbappé, second with 1,027 points, and young FC Barcelona striker Lamine Yamal, third with 881 points. The Nigerian voter placed Paris Saint-Germain striker Ousmane Dembélé second.
Dembélé, winner of the 2025 Ballon d’Or, finished seventh in 2026 without receiving a first-place vote from any of the 100 journalists consulted. However, representatives from seven countries, including Burkina Faso, China, France and Nigeria, ranked him second. Harry Kane beat Mbappé by 28 points in the fourth-closest final in the history of the men’s award.
The vote is cast by journalists from the 100 highest-ranked countries in FIFA’s rankings. Each voter selects ten players, awarding 15 points for first place, 12 for second, and then decreasing numbers of points down to tenth place.
