England forward Harry Kane won his first Ballon d'Or award at the 2026 Ballon d'Or ceremony. The award ceremony took place in London, and Kane created a historic record. He is the first English player to win the award in 25 years, since Michael Owen won it in 2001, the first Bundesliga player to win the award in 30 years since Matthias Sammer in 1996, and the first Bayern player to win the award since Karl-Heinz Rummenigge in 1981.
The Ballon d'Or is sponsored by France Football, a French soccer magazine, and is decided by a vote of 100 journalists from the top 100 countries in the FIFA rankings. In the voting, points will be divided into 15 points for 1st place, 12 points for 2nd place, and 10 points for 3rd place, and the player with the most total points will be the winner. The 2026 voting results were announced on the 30th, with Kane receiving 1055 points.
Meanwhile, France's Kylian Mbappé achieved a career-high 2nd place with 1027 points. The difference between the two was just 28 points, making it the 4th narrowest vote difference between the top two finishers in history. It is reported that 40 of the voters chose Kane as their first choice, while 23 chose Mbappe as their first choice. Third place Ramin Yamal is said to have been chosen by 13 people as first place.
The top 10 points are as follows. 1st place Harry Kane (1055 points), 2nd place Kylian Mbappé (1027 points), 3rd place Ramin Yamal (881 points), 4th place Rodri (726 points), 5th place Lionel Messi (612 points), 6th place Juvica Kvaratschelia (541 points), 7th place Ousmane Dembele (418 points), 8th place Erling Haaland (378 points), 9th place Michael Olise (296 points), 10th place Fabian Ruiz (201 points).
Kane's first award is a huge milestone in his career and also a significant moment for English football. It will be interesting to see what he does in the future and how his competition with Mbappe develops. It is expected that new stars will likely emerge at the next Ballon d'Or.