From Stanley Matthews to Harry Kane… England has another Ballon d’Or winner! There was a time when people said he was cursed. That he would never win a trophy. Well, he has certainly put that notion to rest. At Tottenham, just as with the England national team, he never stopped scoring. Nobody has scored more goals for Spurs or the Three Lions. His performances and his numbers always deserved more than his trophy cabinet suggested. Eventually, the silverware arrived in Munich, with Bayern.
And now, as the Bavarian giants’ iconic No. 9, Tottenham and England’s all-time leading goalscorer has won his first Ballon d’Or. It is recognition of a historic 2025-26 season, but also a tribute to an extraordinary career. The career of one of the greatest strikers, and indeed soccer players, the sport has ever seen. England may have missed out on a second World Cup title this summer, but fans across the country will still feel that football has finally come home.
For the first time, London’s Palladium Theatre played host to a unique night for English and European soccer. At 33, and on home soil, Kane follows in the footsteps of Stanley Matthews, the inaugural winner in 1956, as well as Bobby Charlton, Kevin Keegan and Michael Owen. England now has its sixth Ballon d’Or.
Not Lamine Yamal, not Kylian Mbappé, not Rodri, not Lionel Messi. The 2026 Ballon d’Or belongs to a boy born in Leytonstone who, after years of tormenting opposing goalkeepers and orchestrating his teams’ attacking play like the world’s finest central midfielder, has reached the pinnacle of the sport in Germany.
“He’s a No. 9, a No. 10, a No. 2 and a No. 6. A complete footballer,” Roberto De Zerbi said just days ago. And the best news for his Bayern coach Vincent Kompany, England manager Thomas Tuchel and soccer fans everywhere is that Harry Kane still has plenty left in the tank.
As has become customary, the ceremony lasted more than two hours. The lavish event began over half an hour late, shortly after 9:30 p.m. in Spain, and was overshadowed in the hours leading up to it by the publication of an article announcing the winner on the official Ballon d’Or website.
Or rather, the winners. Before the nominees had even walked the red carpet alongside their partners, families and nominated teammates, the organizers had published an article declaring Kane the winner and celebrating “his best and most significant goals.”
But they had also published articles proclaiming Lamine Yamal the winner, describing an “unprecedented record,” and Mbappé as the “2026 Ballon d’Or winner for personifying consistency at the highest level.”
Despite the confusion, it was Ronaldo Nazário who eventually presented the golden trophy to the man who, from today until at least 2027, holds the title of the world’s best player: Harry Kane. The perfect ending to a historic night.
A historic season with Bayern Munich and England
Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal and German Super Cup champion, Kane’s biggest weaknesses in the Ballon d’Or race were arguably that he had “only” reached the Champions League semifinals and finished third at the World Cup.
Bayern were eliminated from the Champions League by eventual winners PSG, with Kane finishing as the competition’s second-highest scorer with 14 goals.
At the World Cup, meanwhile, he helped England achieve their best finish since winning the tournament in 1966. His six goals also saw him surpass Gary Lineker as England’s all-time leading World Cup scorer.
In the United Kingdom, particularly with the ceremony taking place in London, there was a strong conviction that if anyone deserved the 2026 Ballon d’Or, it was Kane.
He was not quite at his brilliant best during England’s agonizing and heartbreaking semifinal defeat to Argentina, but he had delivered heroic performances against DR Congo and Mexico.
Kane beats Lamine Yamal, Mbappé and Rodri to Ballon d’Or
Many years later, and this time far from Paris’s Théâtre du Châtelet, there was no clear favorite.
Lamine Yamal’s outstanding performances, Mbappé’s goals and Rodri’s World Cup triumph all suggested Kane’s chances might be fading. But nothing could have been further from the truth.
As the days passed and the ceremony approached, English fans, never shy about backing their own, grew increasingly confident that their striker would be posing with the prestigious golden trophy in London.
And they had every reason to believe. Kane’s candidacy was neither significantly stronger than those of his rivals nor inferior to any of them.
After all, how could it be considered inferior when he had scored 73 goals in 65 appearances for club and country?
The European Golden Shoe winner is now a Ballon d’Or winner, too.
The curse is finally broken.
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