Harry Kane won his first Ballon d'Or in London, taking the highest honor at a ceremony hosted by France Football and UEFA. Kane, an England forward who plays for Bayern Munich, is the fifth Englishman to win the award, following Michael Owen in 2001. He scored a total of 73 goals for club and country in the 2025-26 season, contributing significantly to Bayern's domestic treble and England's third-place finish at the North and Central America World Cup. At the award ceremony, he also received the Gerd Müller Trophy, which is the award for the highest scorer.
At the award ceremony, Kane was delighted to have finished in the top three ahead of French forward Kylian Mbappé (Real Madrid) and Spanish forward Lamine Yamal (Barcelona), and expressed his gratitude to his Bayern team-mates, the club's staff and management. He stated, ``Since joining Bayern, I have grown tremendously both as a player and as a leader,'' and said that he was able to achieve this result because of the support of the entire club.
Kane also expressed his feelings for his hospitalized director Vincent Kompany, saying at the award ceremony, ``I hope this can be of some help.'' Looking back on his career, he said that although he was the top scorer in the Premier League three times with Tottenham, he never won the title, and concluded that his current Ballon d'Or is a "reward for hard work".
At the ceremony, Kane was chosen for the men's Ballon d'Or, while Alexia Putejas (Barcelona Femeni) won the women's award. Other major awards included Lamine Yamal as Best Young Player of the Year, Unai Simon as Best Men's Goalkeeper, Luis de la Fuente as Best Men's Coach and PSG as Men's Club of the Year. In the women's category, Vicky López was named best young player, Kata Col was named best goalkeeper, Pere Romeu was named best manager, and Barcelona Femeni was named club of the year.
Kane will now continue to play for Bayern and the England national team, as well as focusing on his next international competition and competing for the club's title. His award brings great confidence and pride to English football, and is an important step that will contribute to the improvement of future competitiveness.