Harry Kane has been named the 2026 Ballon d'Or winner at the 70th annual ceremony, held at the London Palladium. The Bayern Munich striker beat Kylian Mbappe and Lamine Yamal to claim the award, becoming the first English player to win it since Michael Owen in 2001.
Historic win for England and Bayern Munich
Kane is only the fifth English player to receive the honour, joining Sir Stanley Matthews (1956), Sir Bobby Charlton (1966) and Kevin Keegan (1978 and 1979). He is also one of a select group of Bayern Munich players to win the award while at the club, following Gerd Muller (1970), Franz Beckenbauer (1972, 1976) and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (1980 and 1981).
Internationally, Kane captained England to a bronze medal at the World Cup. Although the team did not reach the final, it remains their best finish at a tournament they did not host.
Goal-scoring record behind the award
For club and country, the centre-forward scored 73 goals. He earned the European Golden Shoe by scoring 36 in the Bundesliga, nine more than Erling Haaland managed in the Premier League despite Manchester City's striker playing over 300 more minutes. Ten more of Kane's goals came in the German Cup, with 14 in the Champions League. He scored 12 times for England, half of them at the World Cup.
