Harry Kane has won the 2026 Ballon d’Or, ending England’s 25-year wait and making history as the first player to win two individual awards in one night

ByTech Word News

Soccer Soccer – Ballon d’Or – London Palladium, London, Britain – October 26, 2026 Bayern Munich’s Harry Kane celebrates winning the men’s Ballon d’Or Action Images via Reuters/Matthew Childs Harry Kane has spent years chasing football’s biggest prizes and his latest success has taken him where no player has gone before. The Bayern Munich forward won the 2026 Ballon d’Or, ending a 25-year wait for an English winner, and also won the Gerd Müller Trophy at the same ceremony. His 73 goals for club and country were confirmed, with the resulting double bringing an equally historic finish to an extraordinary season.

Kane ended England’s 25-year wait for the Ballon d’Or

The Leytonstone-born striker became the fifth Englishman to win the men’s Ballon d’Or after Sir Stanley Matthews in 1956, Sir Bobby Charlton in 1966, Kevin Keegan in 1978 and 1979 and Michael Owen in 2001. Kane’s seventh goal since becoming a Munich star eventually led to a Ballon d’Or nomination. years of shortcomings due to the lack of major team trophies. His win ends England’s 25-year wait for a winner and becomes the first player to win the award as a Bayern Munich player.Matthews was the inaugural winner when the award was introduced in 1956, while Keegan remains the only Englishman to win it twice and the only one to win it in consecutive years. Keegan also previously held the distinction of being the only England winner to play for a foreign club, collecting both awards while representing Hamburg in Germany.Kane’s 2026 triumph follows a season in which he scored 73 goals in 65 competitive games for Bayern and England, with eight assists. He finished with the second most goals in a single season by a player of the 21st century, averaging more than a goal per appearance throughout the campaign.The final Men’s Ballon d’Or ranking saw Kylian Mbappé in second place and Lamine Yamal in third, while Lionel Messi ended the night in fifth place.Final top 10:

  1. Harry Kane
  2. Kylian Mbappé
  3. Lamine Yamal
  4. Rodri
  5. Lionel Messi
  6. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia
  7. Ousmane Dembélé
  8. Erling Haaland
  9. Michael Olise
  10. Fabian Ruiz

Kane was joined in the glow of the winners by his female counterpart Alexia Putellas, who won the Ballon d’Or Féminin in 2026. The Barcelona legend won the women’s award for a record third time after her wins in 2021 and 2022, keeping the prize in Spanish hands for the sixth consecutive year.Putellas was rewarded for a spectacular 2025–26 campaign with Barcelona Femenía, leading the club to a historic quadruple, which included the UEFA Women’s League Champions League, before moving to the London City Lionesses.

Bayern’s 61 goals explains the extent of their season

Kane’s club campaign provided the largest share of his remarkable total, with 61 goals and seven assists in 51 appearances for Bayern in all competitions. His record in the Bundesliga was particularly notable: he scored 36 times in 31 games, including 26 starts, at a rate of one goal every 66.1 minutes.He carried that finish over to Europe, scoring 14 goals in 13 Champions League games as Bayern reached the semi-finals, while also contributing two assists in the competition. His domestic cup campaign proved even more prolific, with 10 goals in six DFB-Pokal appearances as Bayern secured their 21st triumph in the competition, including a hat-trick from Kane in the final against Stuttgart.

Bayern Munich forward Harry Kane at the Golden Boot awards ceremony for Europe’s top scorer, in Munich, Germany, Wednesday, August 19, 2026. (Christoph Lother/dpa via AP)

He also scored once in one of Franz Beckenbauer’s Super Cup appearances, completing a season in which his goals came in every major competition in which Bayern competed. His combined rate of one goal or assist every 59 minutes reflected how often he influenced matches, whether finishing moves himself or creating opportunities for teammates.The season also brought Kane his second European Golden Boot and the Bundesliga’s Torjägerkanone for the third consecutive campaign, cementing his position as the division’s top goalscorer. His individual recognition now extends beyond these domestic honors, with the Ballon d’Or placing him at the top of world football’s annual individual rankings.

The Gerd Müller Trophy makes it a historic double

Kane’s second award of the night was the Gerd Müller Trophy, which honors the top goalscorer across club and international football during the European season. In 2021 it was introduced as the Striker of the Year award and in 2022 it was renamed in honor of the legendary German striker who died in 2021.Kane had already won the trophy in 2024 and won it again in 2026, but the addition of the main Ballon d’Or made him the first in the ceremony’s history. No player has previously won two individual awards during the same Ballon d’Or gala, although organizers have confirmed that rules allow multiple honors as each award is decided in a separate voting process.The possibility was there, but Kane’s 73-goal campaign made it a reality, becoming the first player to win both awards at the same ceremony. His success also gives a different meaning to the Gerd Müller trophy, moving beyond recognition only thanks to the goals that accompany the sport’s most prestigious individual award.

England’s record goalscorer is closing in on another milestone

Kane’s contribution to England’s season further strengthened his case, with 12 international goals taking his career tally for the national team to 91. He became England’s record goalscorer in 2024 and his latest haul brought the century mark within reach.Six of those goals came at the 2026 World Cup, where three were match-winners and Kane overtook Gary Lineker to become England’s top scorer in a World Cup final. Lineker himself has been nominated for the Ballon d’Or five times, adding another historic link to Kane’s latest achievement.

England’s Harry Kane (9) celebrates after scoring a goal during the World Cup Group L soccer match between England and Croatia in Arlington, Texas, near Dallas, Wednesday, June 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

During the period used to judge the Striker of the Year award, Kane scored every 97.7 minutes for England. He has also been involved in 32.4 per cent of England’s goals in the games he has played since September 2025, underlining how central he remains to the national team’s attack.At 33, Kane has now collected the Ballon d’Or, the Gerd Müller Trophy, another European Golden Boot and a third consecutive Bundesliga scoring title in a season that changed his place in football history. England’s wait for another winner is over and no player has ever left the Ballon d’Or ceremony with the same two individual honors that Kane claimed.