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Harry Kane wins Ballon d'Or, first English winner in 25 years

Summarised from 9 outlets · 18 reports · Updated 27 Oct, 16:21 · Archive

Harry Kane became the first Englishman in 25 years to win the Ballon d'Or, beating Kylian Mbappe and Lamine Yamal.

Harry Kane won the Ballon d'Or on Monday night at a ceremony at London Palladium, becoming the first Englishman to win football's most prestigious individual award since Michael Owen in 2001. The Bayern Munich and England captain beat Real Madrid forward Kylian Mbappe into second place, with Barcelona's Lamine Yamal finishing third.

Kane scored 73 goals in 65 games for Bayern Munich and England during the 2025–26 season. He is England's all-time leading goalscorer with 91 goals and has made 125 appearances for his country, joint-highest with goalkeeper Peter Shilton. At Tottenham Hotspur, he scored a record 280 goals in 435 appearances. He also captained England to a third-place finish at the World Cup.

The voting was remarkably close. Vincent Garcia, editor-in-chief of France Football which oversees the process, said the race between Kane and Mbappe was decided by very little. The points gap between them was smaller than the gap between 2024's top two finishers, Rodri and Vinicius, which was 41 points and already considered a narrow margin at the time.

Kane's win also marked the first time a Bundesliga player has won the Ballon d'Or since Matthias Sammer in 1996. Lothar Matthaus, the 1991 winner, said Kane had developed further at Bayern and that he did not think Kane would have won the award at any other club.

Downing Street congratulated Kane on his 'extraordinary achievement', with the Prime Minister's office stressing that he 'continues to set a brilliant example to young players across the country'. Asked whether Kane could receive a knighthood, the PM's spokeswoman said everyone would agree he had given 'enormous amount to English football' but refused to pre-empt the honours process. Kane would be only the fifth Englishman to win the award, following Stanley Matthews in 1956, Bobby Charlton in 1966, Kevin Keegan in 1978 and 1979, and Owen in 2001.

Downing Street also hinted there could be more silverware for Kane to celebrate with England 'before too long', alluding to hopes of an England win when the country co-hosts the Euros in 2028 with Scotland, Wales and the Republic of Ireland.

Some criticism of Kane's win emerged after the announcement. Lamine Yamal's uncle claimed that football fans pay to see his nephew rather than Kane, whilst former Arsenal and Manchester City player Samir Nasri told Canal+ that although Kane has fantastic qualities and impressive statistics, 'he's never been the player who carried his team somewhere or made his team win in the very big matches'.

Harry Kane wins Ballon d'Or, first English winner in 25 years
Image: Independent Sport

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In this story: Harry Kane · Bayern Munich · England · Kylian Mbappe · Lamine Yamal · Michael Owen · Tottenham Hotspur · Real Madrid

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