Mirror Football readers have named England captain Harry Kane as their pick to win the 2026 Ballon d'Or. The Bayern Munich forward is among the 30 nominees for the award, which will be handed out on Monday, October 26.
Last year, Paris Saint-Germain forward Ousmane Dembele took the prize after leading his club to their first Champions League title. Kane, meanwhile, won the Bundesliga and the DFB Pokal in Germany and helped England finish third at the World Cup in the USA and Mexico, scoring six goals in that tournament.
For Bayern, the 32-year-old recorded 61 goals and seven assists in 51 appearances across all competitions. His performances have convinced Mirror Football's readership, who made their views clear in a recent poll.
Poll results and other contenders
At the time of writing, 50% of the 1,262 respondents voted for Kane. Kylian Mbappe, who won the World Cup golden boot for a second time, took 13% of the votes as runner-up.
Barcelona forward and World Cup winner Lamine Yamal received 10% of the votes for third place, with Lionel Messi on 7%. A further 20% of voters believe someone else among the nominees deserves the award.
Kane is not the only England player on the list. Real Madrid midfielder Jude Bellingham is nominated, as is Declan Rice, who won the Premier League and reached the Champions League final with Arsenal.
Hargreaves backs Kane
Former Manchester United midfielder Owen Hargreaves recently tipped Kane to become the first Englishman since Michael Owen to win the prize. He said: "I think this year, Harry's the favourite, but there's some other big candidates in there."
He added: "I think statistics are very important. Bayern had an incredible season, winning the Bundesliga and the German Cup, with Harry scoring the hat-trick in the final. He also got third place at the 2026 World Cup. I think the body of work is there. Harry's ageing like a fine wine. He's only going to get better."
"A lot of people criticised him for making the move to Bayern Munich, but it's actually proven to be the right decision. He's been here for three seasons and two of his best ever seasons, statistically, have been at Bayern Munich."
Full list of nominees
The complete Ballon d'Or nominees are: Jude Bellingham, Pau Cubarsi, Marc Cucurella, Ousmane Dembele, Luis Diaz, Bruno Fernandes, Gabriel, Erling Haaland, Achraf Hakimi, Harry Kane, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Lamine Yamal, Sadio Mane, Marquinhos, Lautaro Martinez, Kylian Mbappe, Nuno Mendes, Lionel Messi, Joao Neves, Michael Olise, Willian Pacho, Julian Quinones, Declan Rice, Rodri, Fabian Ruiz, William Saliba, Ferran Torres, Dayot Upamecano, Vinicius Junior, and Vitinha.
