Mourinho opens up after Kane beats Mbappe to Ballon d'Or

Real Madrid manager José Mourinho has conceded that Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane fully deserved the 2026 Men's Ballon d'Or, despite previously launching a relentless public campaign for his own forward, Kylian Mbappé.

The Portuguese tactician delivered the gracious admission during his pre-match press conference on Friday ahead of Real Madrid's upcoming LALIGA fixture.

Kane captured the prestigious individual accolade on Monday with 1,055 points, narrowly edging out Mbappé, who finished second in the voting sequence with 1,027 points.

The agonising 28-point deficit followed weeks of intense media lobbying from both Mbappé and his club manager.

Throughout October, Mourinho utilised his platform to position the 27-year-old French captain for the award.

The manager actively attempted to compensate for Mbappé finishing the 2025/26 campaign without major collective silverware by promoting the forward's individual attacking statistics and global influence.

However, when directly asked about the final Ballon d'Or voting results, Mourinho set aside his club biases to praise a player he knows intimately.

"Harry Kane is a great player. I have to be honest, I am very happy for him," Mourinho stated to the assembled Spanish press.

"He deserves the Ballon d’Or; it’s the cherry on top of his career," the Real Madrid manager concluded.

Mourinho's profound respect for Kane stems from their shared tenure at Tottenham Hotspur between November 2019 and April 2021.

While the duo did not secure any team trophies together in North London, Mourinho played a pivotal role in evolving Kane's tactical profile.

Under Mourinho's tutelage, the English striker began dropping much deeper into the midfield to orchestrate play, transforming him into a lethal dual-threat creator and finisher.

That specific tactical evolution laid the foundational groundwork for the historic 2025/26 campaign that ultimately secured Kane the Golden Ball.

Kane amassed an astonishing 73 goals in 65 appearances for club and country during the designated voting period.

His 61 goals in 51 competitive club matches directly fired Bayern Munich to both the 2025/26 Bundesliga title and the DFB-Pokal crown.