Harry Kane becomes first Englishman in 25 years to win the Ballon d'Or

England captain Harry Kane, a striker for German club Bayern Munich, has won the 2026 Ballon d'Or, the prestigious individual football award given by French magazine France Football, at a ceremony held in London. No English player had won it for 25 years; Michael Owen was the previous winner, in 2001.

Kane scored 73 goals for club and country last season. In the voting he finished ahead of Real Madrid forward Kylian Mbappe, who placed second, and Barcelona winger Lamine Yamal, who was third. The trophy was handed to him by Brazil's two-time winner Ronaldo. Kane is also the first Bayern player to take the award in 45 years.

Kane's reaction

An emotional Kane said on stage that he was almost speechless. He thanked the magazine, those who voted, England, Bayern and his former club Tottenham. He noted that his route to the top was not straightforward and involved several loan moves, and said he hoped it could inspire young people chasing their dreams.

Tributes

England head coach Thomas Tuchel congratulated Kane and called him the team's leader. Prince William, patron of the Football Association, wrote on Instagram that the achievement was deserved. Former England player and Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher said the move from Tottenham to Bayern was one Kane needed to make to be in contention.

Chaos before the ceremony

Hours before the event, the Ballon d'Or website briefly carried three separate articles naming Kane, Yamal and Mbappe as the winner. All three were later removed. The ceremony itself began 45 minutes late, at 8.45pm, because of London traffic.

Other awards went to Alexia Putellas (women's Ballon d'Or, Barcelona), Luis de la Fuente (men's coach of the year, Spain), Pere Romeu (women's coach of the year), and Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona as the men's and women's clubs of the year.