Summary:
- Harry Kane won the 2026 men’s Ballon d’Or on 26 October at the London Palladium, ahead of Kylian Mbappé and Lamine Yamal.
- The Bayern Munich and England captain scored 73 goals in 65 matches, won the Bundesliga and the DFB-Pokal, and took third place at the World Cup.
- Kane is the first English winner since Michael Owen in 2001 and the first Bayern Munich player to win since Karl-Heinz Rummenigge in 1981.
Harry Kane won the 2026 men’s Ballon d’Or on Monday 26 October at the London Palladium. The Bayern Munich striker and England captain, 33, received the first Ballon d’Or of his career. Kylian Mbappé of Real Madrid finished second and Lamine Yamal of Barcelona finished third. Rodri placed fourth and Lionel Messi placed fifth.
The gala was the 70th edition and the first held outside France. France Football, the magazine which organises the award, moved the ceremony from Paris to London to mark Stanley Matthews, the Blackpool winger who won the first Ballon d’Or in 1956. A jury of 100 journalists from around the world voted on performances between 3 August 2025 and 19 July 2026.
Kane scored 73 goals in 65 matches across the 2025-26 season. He scored 61 for Bayern Munich and 12 for England, and he added eight assists. Bayern won the Bundesliga with four rounds still to play. On 23 May, Bayern beat Stuttgart 3-0 in the DFB-Pokal final at the Olympiastadion in Berlin, which completed the domestic double. Kane scored all three goals in the second half, the last one a penalty in stoppage time. Bayern also won the German Super Cup, and Kane collected the Gerd Müller Trophy for the best men’s striker on the same night in London.
With England, Kane scored six goals at the World Cup in North America, where the team finished third. Spain won the tournament, and Yamal played in the winning squad. Mbappé scored 10 goals at the competition and finished second in the vote.
Kane is the fifth English winner, after Matthews in 1956, Bobby Charlton in 1966, Kevin Keegan in 1978 and 1979, and Michael Owen in 2001. If you count the years, the gap since Owen, who won as a Liverpool player, stands at 25. Kane is also the first Bayern Munich player to win since Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, who took the award in 1980 and 1981, and the first player from a Bundesliga club since Matthias Sammer of Borussia Dortmund in 1996. In the 2025 vote, won by Ousmane Dembélé, Kane ranked 13th.
Kane called the campaign “the best season of my career without a doubt” and thanked his family, friends, teammates and coaches. He named Bayern teammates Michael Olise, Dayot Upamecano, Luis Díaz and Lennart Karl, and wished well to Bayern coach Vincent Kompany, who did not attend the ceremony. England coach Thomas Tuchel congratulated Kane and called the award deserved.
Yamal received the Kopa Trophy for the best young player, and Alexia Putellas won the women’s Ballon d’Or for the third time.
Soufiene El Boub
was born and raised in France, where he also pursued his education. With a lifelong passion for sports and storytelling, Soufiene has become a sports editor, known for his insightful analysis writing. His unique perspective, shaped by his French upbringing, adds a distinctive flair to his work in the world of sports journalism.
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