Ballon d’Or 2026: Thierry Henry defends his ceremony jokes about Lamine Yamal and Kate Scott

Harry Kane lifted the Ballon d’Or 2026 in London on Monday night, ahead of Kylian Mbappé. By the next day, the jokes of the evening were the story: Thierry Henry, who hosted alongside Kate Scott, posted a three-minute video overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday to answer those who read disrespect into his lines.

The Kopa trophy and the question for Yamal

Lamine Yamal had just collected the Kopa trophy, his third in a row, when Henry asked him, joking, whether that was really the award he wanted. The nod was to the Ballon d’Or, which escaped him this year. The exchange was read as a dig at the Barcelona forward. Henry rejects that: “I am a big fan of Lamine Yamal. I can understand you did not like the joke, but do not invent intentions. He is one of the players I would pay to watch. I love him.” He adds: “I was absolutely not trying to put his ego in its place.”

“Kate was in on the joke”

Second point of criticism: Kate Scott had mispronounced “Sócrates”, and Henry corrected her live on stage. He turns the accusation around: “Kate was in on the joke. She did it on purpose. So please stop saying I disrespected her. I would never do that.” Kate Scott confirmed in a comment under the video that no disrespect took place.

The last joke was a lighter one. Henry had backed Mbappé for the award, and he congratulated Kane by recalling their on-air sparring: “Last thing, if you do not watch our show on CBS, Harry Kane the other day called me out for supporting Kylian Mbappé.”

In the closing stretch, RMC Sport describes a Henry who would have liked a Frenchman to take the trophy, while Foot Mercato reads nothing but sincere congratulations to the winner. The record book does not move: Kane keeps his Ballon d’Or, Yamal leaves with a third Kopa trophy, and Henry closed the subject by standing by every joke.