Harry Kane Wins 2026 Ballon d’Or, First English Winner in 25 Years

Harry Kane has won the 2026 Ballon d’Or, football’s most prestigious individual prize, after a record-breaking season with Bayern Munich and England. The Harry Kane Ballon d’Or triumph was announced at the London Palladium on Monday night, at the 70th edition of the award and the first ever held outside Paris.

The England captain beat Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal and Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappé to the prize, becoming the first English player to win the Ballon d’Or since Michael Owen in 2001. He is only the fifth English winner in the award’s history, after Sir Stanley Matthews, Sir Bobby Charlton, Kevin Keegan and Owen, and the first Bayern Munich player to take it since Karl-Heinz Rummenigge in 1981.

FAKTA

• Winner: Harry Kane (Bayern Munich and England), men’s Ballon d’Or 2026.
• Where: London Palladium, London, on Monday, 26 October 2026 — the 70th Ballon d’Or ceremony.
• Finalists beaten: Lamine Yamal (Barcelona) and Kylian Mbappé (Real Madrid).
• Season record: 61 goals in 51 appearances for Bayern Munich, plus 12 goals for England, including six at the 2026 World Cup.
• Also won: The Gerd Müller Trophy as the world’s best striker, earlier the same evening.
• Women’s winner: Alexia Putellas (Barcelona), winning the Ballon d’Or Féminin for the third time.
• Historic firsts: First English winner since Michael Owen in 2001; first Bayern winner since Karl-Heinz Rummenigge in 1981.

Harry Kane Ballon d’Or win caps a record season

Kane’s victory follows a season in which he scored 61 goals in 51 appearances for Bayern Munich, helping the German club win the Bundesliga title and the DFB-Pokal. He added 12 goals for England, including six at the 2026 World Cup, where England finished third.

Earlier in the evening, Kane also collected the Gerd Müller Trophy as the world’s best striker, presented by former England captain Alan Shearer. Accepting the main award, he said: “It has been an amazing year for me; a year I feel great pride in what I have achieved. Without a doubt, this has been the best season I have ever had.”

He added that winning in London made the night extra special. “It being here in London as well has made it extra special,” he said. “Thank you very much. Thank you to everyone who voted for me. I can imagine it was really tough this year — some incredible players I was up against.”

A night of firsts in London

The ceremony was staged in London rather than its usual home of Paris to mark 70 years since Sir Stanley Matthews won the inaugural Ballon d’Or in 1956. The evening was delayed by a rainy and traffic-logged night in the capital, but the Palladium still filled with the game’s great names for football’s biggest individual night.

Kane, 33, spent more than a decade at Tottenham Hotspur, where he played over 300 matches without lifting a major trophy, before moving to Bayern Munich. He now has Bundesliga titles, the DFB-Pokal and, as of Monday night, the sport’s top individual award to his name.

Putellas wins women’s award for a third time

Spain’s Alexia Putellas won the women’s Ballon d’Or for the third time after another dominant season with Barcelona, whom she captained to a quadruple of trophies — the league title, two domestic cups and the Women’s Champions League — before signing for the London City Lionesses in England this summer.

“I don’t know what to say, too many things. Congrats to all the nominees, congrats to all the winners,” Putellas said on stage. “That so many Barça players were nominated says a lot about the season we had. … It was my honor to be your captain.”

Other winners on the night

Spain dominated the evening overall, taking eight of the 13 awards. Lamine Yamal won the men’s Kopa Trophy for the best young player, Unai Simón won the men’s Yashin Trophy for goalkeepers, and Luis de la Fuente was named men’s coach of the year. Paris Saint-Germain were named men’s club of the year, Barcelona the women’s club of the year, and Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka received the Socrates Award.

The Ballon d’Or is voted on by a panel of journalists from each of the top 100 countries in the FIFA rankings. After Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo won all but two of the awards between 2008 and 2023, the prize has entered a new era in which the winner is far less certain — and on Monday night, it was Harry Kane’s name that was read out.

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