Harry Kane has won the 2026 men’s Ballon d’Or, becoming the first English player to claim football’s most prestigious individual award since Michael Owen in 2001.
The Bayern Munich and England captain received the prize at a ceremony at the London Palladium on Monday, October 26, after scoring 73 goals in 65 appearances for club and country last season. Kane finished ahead of Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappé, who came second, and Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal, who was third.
Kane’s 61 goals in 51 club matches set a new Bayern Munich single-season record, while his overall tally of 73 goals and eight assists across club and country made him Europe’s top scorer. His goals helped Bayern Munich secure a Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal double, and he captained England to the World Cup semi-finals, the country’s best finish since winning the tournament in 1966.
The 33-year-old also collected the Gerd Müller Trophy for the best men’s striker of the year, his second time winning that award after sharing it with Mbappé in 2024. Kane is the fifth Englishman to win the Ballon d’Or, following Stanley Matthews (1956), Bobby Charlton (1966), Kevin Keegan (1978 and 1979) and Michael Owen (2001).
The 70th Ballon d’Or ceremony was held in London for the first time, honouring Stanley Matthews’ triumph 70 years ago, and Kane’s win made him the first Bayern Munich player to receive the award since Karl-Heinz Rummenigge in 1981. The ceremony was not without drama, with the official website briefly and erroneously announcing winners ahead of time and the event delayed by around 30 minutes due to London traffic.
Kane’s victory capped a remarkable journey from EFL loan spells at Leyton Orient, Leicester City and Hull City to becoming the world’s best player at 33, with England head coach Thomas Tuchel praising him as a leader whose performances had long run out of superlatives.
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