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.
Denis Law of Scotland (1964) and Northern Ireland’s George Best (1968) are the other winners from the United Kingdom.
Real Madrid and France forward Kylian Mbappe finished second, while Barcelona and Spain attacker Lamine Yamal completed the top three.
“I am almost speechless. Being here in London has made it extra special,” said an emotional Kane.
“Thank you to everyone who voted for me. I can imagine it was tough this year.
“[There are] some world-class players in the room tonight. Congratulations to all the winners and nominees tonight. [It is] an impressive showing of determination and what hard work can really achieve.”
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.
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 became the first Bayern player to win the Ballon d’Or since Karl-Heinz Rummenigge in 1981.
Kane’s record-breaking 2025-26 season
In terms of trophies, Kane may have ‘only’ lifted the German double last season.
But that more than doubled his career trophy total – having also won the Bundesliga the season before.
But in terms of individual output Kane – whose previous best Ballon d’Or finish was 10th – was unmatched last season.
His 61 goals in all competitions for Bayern was 19 more than any other player in Europe’s top five leagues managed.
In fact it was the most anyone has recorded since Cristiano Ronaldo also notched 61 for Real Madrid 11 years ago.
He was the Bundesliga’s top scorer with 36 goals – 17 clear of anyone else. In the Champions League he scored 14 for the beaten semi-finalists.
In the German Cup he scored 10 goals, including a hat-trick in the 3-0 win over Stuttgart in the final, and he also netted once in the German Super Cup.
No player has ever scored so many goals in a season for Bayern, a club who have had legendary goalscorers like Gerd Muller, Rummenigge and more recently Robert Lewandowski in their ranks.
Kane’s 12 goals for England last season – including six at the World Cup – take him up to a total of 73.
Only one player in history from Europe’s top leagues has scored more in a season, Lionel Messi’s 82 for Barcelona and Argentina in 2011-12.
Next on the list are Muller (72 in 1972-73), Cristiano Ronaldo (66 in both 2011-12 and 2014-15), former Brazil striker Ronaldo (66 in 1996-97), Erling Haaland (64 in 2022-23) and Luis Suarez (64 in 2015-16).
Former England striker Alan Shearer recently told BBC Sport: “The winner of the Ballon d’Or should be Harry Kane.
“His numbers for the last 12 to 18 months have been absolutely sensational for Bayern and for England. For that reason, he should get it.”
Another ex-Three Lions player Danny Murphy added: “His goalscoring has been relentless, brilliant. He’s had one of the best seasons of his career and it’ll be a great reward for him if he gets the trophy.
“He’s been brilliant at Bayern Munich since he’s been there, adapted really well and he’s been the best centre forward in the world for the last 12 months.”
The Ballon d’Or was only available to European players from its formation in 1956 until 1995 when it was opened up to everyone.
Since then in four of the seven World Cup years, the Ballon d’Or has been awarded to a world champion – including Messi in 2023 (as the 2022 World Cup was in the winter).
However, that was the first time since 2006 it had happened, with Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Luka Modric all winning since then despite not winning the World Cup that year.
This is only the fifth time in the past 20 years that the Ballon d’Or has not gone to a player who has won either the World Cup, the Champions League or a European Championship/Copa America – with Kane joining Messi (three times) and Ronaldo.
Lamine Yamal, who won the World Cup with Spain, had been one of the favourites but lost out to Kane.
Last year, winning the Champions League helped PSG and France’s Ousmane Dembele to the crown.
