Speaking on Canal+, the former France international acknowledged Kane’s quality but questioned whether the England captain had carried his team through defining moments during the season.
“Honestly… this year it could have gone to one of five. Harry Kane, okay, the statistics made the difference. He is a fantastic player, who has so many qualities, but he is never the player who has a campaign of his own, who has carried his team somewhere or made it win,” Nasri said.
“In the really, really, really big matches, there is often a slight failure,” he added.
Asked directly whether he was excited by Kane’s triumph, Nasri gave a blunt response: “No.”
Kane received the award after a prolific 2025-26 campaign for Bayern Munich and England. He scored 73 goals across all competitions for club and country, helping Bayern retain the Bundesliga title and win a domestic treble, while also finishing among the leading scorers at the 2026 World Cup.
The result placed Kane ahead of Kylian Mbappé and Lamine Yamal in the final ranking. The award also made him the first Englishman to win the men’s Ballon d’Or since Michael Owen in 2001.
Nasri’s criticism centres less on Kane’s output than on how much influence he believes the striker has in the matches that define a season. His comments reflect a familiar debate around individual awards: whether they should primarily reward goals and consistency or give greater weight to performances in decisive fixtures.
Kane’s numbers were exceptional, and his contribution to Bayern’s domestic success was a major part of his case. Nasri, however, suggested that the statistics did not settle the question for him, arguing that the forward had not repeatedly taken control of the biggest occasions.
The comments were made after the ceremony and add a dissenting voice to the reaction around Kane’s win. While Nasri praised the striker’s ability, his verdict on the award itself was unmistakable.