Kane Wins 2026 Ballon d’Or Award

Harry Kane has become the first English player to win the Ballon d’Or since Michael Owen in 2001 after being crowned the world’s best player at a ceremony in London.

The 33-year-old Bayern Munich striker is the fifth Englishman to win in total, with Stanley Matthews (1956), Bobby Charlton (1966) and Kevin Keegan (1978 and 1979) the others, as reported by BBC Sport.

Denis Law of Scotland (1964) and Northern Ireland’s George Best (1968) are the other winners from the United Kingdom.

Kane scored 61 goals in 51 club matches last season, the most a Bayern player has ever struck in one campaign. Including England matches, it was 73 goals – plus eight assists – in 65 matches.

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Only one player at a club in Europe’s top five leagues has ever scored more goals in a season.

But he wins it despite not lifting either of football’s biggest prizes last season, having lost in both the World Cup and Champions League semi-finals.

Remarkably the Three Lions captain becomes the first Bayern player to win the Ballon d’Or since Karl-Heinz Rummenigge in 1981.

Among the other categories in Monday’s ceremony, Yamal was named the Men’s Young Player of the Year after starring for Barcelona in LaLiga and for Spain at the World Cup.

“I’d have liked it to be [teammate Pau] Cubarsi,” Yamal said during a brief speech. “This prize should have been for him. He deserves it.”

Spain’s Luis de la Fuente won Coach of the Year after guiding Spain to the World Cup, and his first-choice keeper, Unai Simón, was named Men’s Goalkeeper of the Year.

Men’s Ballon d’Or: Top-10 ranking

Harry Kane (Bayern Munich)

Kylian Mbappé (Real Madrid)

Lamine Yamal (Barcelona)

Rodri, Barcelona (previously Manchester City)

Lionel Messi (Inter Miami)

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (Paris Saint-Germain)

Ousmane Dembélé (Paris Saint-Germain)

Erling Haaland (Manchester City)

Michael Olise (Bayern Munich)

Fabián Ruiz (Paris Saint-Germain)

Winners in other categories