ISTANBUL, TURKEY - OCTOBER 13: Lamine Yamal of FC Barcelona reacts during the UEFA Champions League 2026/27 League Phase MD2 match between Galatasaray A.S. and FC Barcelona at Ali Sami Yen Spor Kompleksi on October 13, 2026 in Istanbul, Turkey. (Photo by Burak Kara/Getty Images)
Croatia’s representative voter for this year’s Ballon d’Or sprung a major surprise in leaving Barcelona star Lamine Yamal out of his final top-10.
The 2026 Ballon d’Or ceremony of course took place in the English capital of London yesterday evening. When all was said and done, it was Bayern Munich frontman Harry Kane who was honoured with the title of world football’s best player for the last 12 months.
Kane was followed in 2nd by Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappé, with the aforementioned Lamine Yamal having rounded out the podium in 3rd.
As alluded to above, though, in the eyes of one journalist, the 19-year-old was not deserving of a place anywhere close to the top of the ‘Golden Ball’ shortlist.
With the dust having now settled on Monday’s gala, the selections of each media member afforded the honour of voting status for the Ballon d’Or have been revealed.
And the picks of Croatia’s representative have since turned heads, with Zdravko Reić having not even had room for Lamine Yamal in his final top-10.
Reić’s bizarre final votes were made up as follows:
Rodri
Erling Haaland
Lionel Messi
Ferran Torres
Kylian Mbappe
Harry Kane
Pau Cubarsí
Vitinha
Ousmane Dembele
Jude Bellingham
🇭🇷 Croatian journalist Zdravko Reić admits he was wrong to rank Harry Kane only sixth in his 2026 Ballon d'Or vote.
Reić voted for Rodri to win the award, placed Erling Haaland second and left Lamine Yamal completely out of his top 10, citing the importance of performances at… pic.twitter.com/1VhNiyC7CD
— Croatian Football (@CroatiaFooty) October 27, 2026
Conor Laird – GSFN