Harry Kane Ballon d’Or Win Ends England’s 25-Year Wait

Harry Kane has won the 2026 Ballon d’Or, the first Englishman to do so in 25 years and the fifth overall. The England captain and Bayern Munich striker beat Kylian Mbappe, who came second, and Lamine Yamal, who took third. The Harry Kane Ballon d’Or victory was announced at the London Palladium on Monday, 26 October.

Kane was Europe’s top scorer last season with 73 goals for club and country. He led Bayern Munich to the Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal double, and Bayern won the cup after a five-year gap. He scored a hat-trick in the German Cup final and took the club to the Champions League semi-finals. 

At the World Cup, he scored six times, passed Gary Lineker as England’s top scorer at the tournament and entered the all-time top five. England lost to Argentina in the semi-finals but beat France for third place, their best World Cup finish in 60 years. In the women’s award, Alexia Putellas ended Aitana Bonmatí’s run, ahead of Ewa Pajor and Khadija Shaw.

The Harry Kane Ballon d’Or win rests on goals and trophies together: Europe’s top tally, a domestic double and a deep World Cup run. His speech leaned on the long road. He said he wasn’t the kid who went straight to the top, and that he had to fight his way up. Alexia Putellas’s win also changes the women’s picture, because she takes the award from her Spain teammate Bonmati.

The report looks no further ahead. The test now is how the Harry Kane Ballon d’Or winner follows a year like this, and whether England can build on that third-place run.