Nigeria's Voter Chose Rodri as Best Player Over Kane

Nigeria’s voter for the 2026 men’s Ballon d’Or chose Spanish midfielder Rodri as the best player in the world. This choice came even though the Manchester City star ended up fourth in the overall results.

France Football released the voting details on Friday. According to the report, Nigeria was one of 10 countries where journalists ranked Rodri first on their ballots.

The other countries that voted for Rodri included the United States, Guatemala, South Korea, the Czech Republic, Serbia, Thailand, Vietnam, Croatia, and Iceland.

Rodri ended up fourth overall with 726 points. He was behind Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane, who won the award with 1,055 points. Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappé came second with 1,027 points, while Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal was third with 881 points.

Nigeria’s voter also ranked Paris Saint-Germain forward Ousmane Dembélé second on their ballot. Dembélé, who won the 2025 men’s Ballon d’Or, finished seventh in the 2026 voting. He did not get any first-place votes from the 100 journalists who took part in the voting.

Dembélé was placed second by voters from seven countries: Burkina Faso, China, France, Georgia, Haiti, North Macedonia, and Nigeria.

The Ballon d’Or voting featured journalists from the 100 highest-ranked countries in FIFA. Each journalist picked 10 players from the shortlist.

Points were given based on the ranking on each ballot. First place got 15 points, second place received 12 points, and third place earned 10 points. The points decreased down to one point for the tenth place.

Kane won the award by 28 points over Mbappé. This finish was the fourth-closest in the history of the men’s Ballon d’Or.