Harry Kane wins the 2026 Ballon d’Or
Bayern Munich and England striker Harry Kane wins the 2026 Ballon d’Or after scoring 73 goals and winning three trophies with Bayern.
Harry Kane has won the 2026 Ballon d’Or, becoming the fifth English footballer to claim the award after a remarkable season for Bayern Munich and England.
The striker scored 73 goals and supplied eight assists in 65 appearances across club and international football in 2025-26. Kylian Mbappe came close, with 58 goals and 13 assists in 60 matches, but couldn’t match Kane’s overall return.
Kane also combined his individual numbers with success on the pitch. He won the European Golden Shoe and finished second in the Champions League scoring standings, as well as fifth at the World Cup. With Bayern, he lifted the Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal and Supercup. His teams won 54 of his 65 appearances, drawing seven and losing four.
There were near misses, too. Bayern lost 6-5 on aggregate to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League semi-finals, while England were beaten 2-1 by Argentina at the same stage of the World Cup. Kane and England went on to take the bronze medal.
Mbappe finished the season without a team trophy and lost his Champions League quarter-final contest with Kane. Lamine Yamal, despite winning La Liga, the Spanish Super Cup and the World Cup with Spain, recorded 25 goals and 19 assists. An injury also disrupted his tournament.
Kane joins Stanley Matthews, Bobby Charlton, Kevin Keegan and Michael Owen as an English Ballon d’Or winner. Matthews won in 1956, Charlton in 1966, Keegan in 1978 and 1979, and Owen in 2001.
