Kane becomes first Englishman to win Germany's Footballer of the Year award

Harry Kane has become the first Englishman to be voted Germany's Footballer of the Year, taking the 2026 award organised by Kicker magazine.

The honour is decided by 695 members of the German sports journalists association and is open to both Bundesliga players and German internationals playing abroad. Kane earned the recognition after a season in which he scored 61 goals in all competitions, helping Bayern Munich complete a domestic league and cup double and reach the Champions League semi-finals.

He topped the vote with 272 votes, ahead of teammate Michael Olise, who finished second with 203 votes — a repeat of last year's result, when Olise was runner-up to Florian Wirtz.

Bayern sporting director Max Eberl praised Kane, saying he is often at a loss for words to describe him, noting that the striker had already been named England's Footballer of the Year before adding this German honour.

Kane is also considered one of the leading contenders for the 2026 Ballon d'Or, due to be presented in London in October. Should he win, he would become only the second English player to claim the award while playing for a German club, following Kevin Keegan, who won it in 1978 and 1979 during his time at Hamburg.

Elsewhere in the Kicker awards, Bayern manager Vincent Kompany was named coach of the year, while the club's women's team captain, Giulia Gwinn, was recognised as the best female player.

Kane and Kompany are due to be honoured on Friday when Bayern open their Bundesliga campaign at home to VfB Stuttgart. The club already began the season with silverware, beating Borussia Dortmund 2-1 to win the German Super Cup on Saturday. Kane also picked up the 2026 Golden Shoe award on Wednesday for finishing as the top scorer among Europe's major leagues last season.