By BBC
Harry Kane has become the first English player to win the Ballon d’Or since Michael Owen in 2001 after being crowned the world’s best player at a ceremony in London.
The 33-year-old Bayern Munich striker is the fifth Englishman to win in total, with Stanley Matthews (1956), Bobby Charlton (1966) and Kevin Keegan (1978 and 1979) the others.
Denis Law of Scotland (1964) and Northern Ireland’s George Best (1968) are the other winners from the United Kingdom.
Real Madrid and France forward Kylian Mbappe finished second, while Barcelona and Spain attacker Lamine Yamal completed the top three.
“Not many people would have thought it, and maybe even I wouldn’t have thought I’d be this far,” Kane told Dazn.
“I had to go through many ups and downs, especially early in my career. I was never the person that people thought was going to be the superstar like some of the guys now.
“I had to bide my time and work hard, a lot of times it was me against my own mind and I had to come through it, I had to show self-belief, determination.
“I think that grounded me even when I did make it at the highest level to keep improving and keep getting better.”
England manager Thomas Tuchel said he was “delighted” to see Kane win the award as he hailed the forward’s success as a “huge honour”.
Prince William, meanwhile, said the former Tottenham Hotspur player was a “brilliant captain” and “remarkable player”.
Kane scored 61 goals in 51 club matches last season, the most a Bayern player has ever struck in one campaign. Including England matches, it was 73 goals – plus eight assists – in 65 matches.
Only one player at a club in Europe’s top five leagues has ever scored more goals in a season.
But he wins it despite not lifting either of football’s biggest prizes last season, having lost in both the World Cup and Champions League semi-finals.
Remarkably the Three Lions captain becomes the first Bayern player to win the Ballon d’Or since Karl-Heinz Rummenigge in 1981.
To celebrate Kane’s success, the Wembley arches were lit up in gold on Monday night.
BBC Sport looks at why Kane won it and how unusual it is to do so without securing one of those major trophies.
Kane’s record-breaking 2025-26 season
In terms of trophies, Kane may have ‘only’ lifted the German double last season.
But that more than doubled his career trophy total – having also won the Bundesliga the season before.
But in terms of individual output Kane – whose previous best Ballon d’Or finish was 10th – was unmatched last season.
His 61 goals in all competitions for Bayern was 19 more than any other player in Europe’s top five leagues managed.
In fact it was the most anyone has recorded since Cristiano Ronaldo also notched 61 for Real Madrid 11 years ago.
He was the Bundesliga’s top scorer with 36 goals – 17 clear of anyone else. In the Champions League he scored 14 for the beaten semi-finalists.
In the German Cup he scored 10 goals, including a hat-trick in the 3-0 win over Stuttgart in the final, and he also netted once in the German Super Cup.
No player has ever scored so many goals in a season for Bayern, a club who have had legendary goalscorers like Gerd Muller, Rummenigge and more recently Robert Lewandowski in their ranks.
Kane’s 12 goals for England last season – including six at the World Cup – take him up to a total of 73.
Only one player in history from Europe’s top leagues has scored more in a season, Lionel Messi’s 82 for Barcelona and Argentina in 2011-12.
Next on the list are Muller (72 in 1972-73), Cristiano Ronaldo (66 in both 2011-12 and 2014-15), former Brazil striker Ronaldo (66 in 1996-97), Erling Haaland (64 in 2022-23) and Luis Suarez (64 in 2015-16).
Former England striker Alan Shearer recently told BBC Sport: “The winner of the Ballon d’Or should be Harry Kane.
“His numbers for the last 12 to 18 months have been absolutely sensational for Bayern and for England. For that reason, he should get it.”
Another ex-Three Lions player Danny Murphy added: “His goalscoring has been relentless, brilliant. He’s had one of the best seasons of his career and it’ll be a great reward for him if he gets the trophy.
“He’s been brilliant at Bayern Munich since he’s been there, adapted really well and he’s been the best centre forward in the world for the last 12 months.”
How rare is winning Ballon d’Or without a top trophy?
The Ballon d’Or was only available to European players from its formation in 1956 until 1995 when it was opened up to everyone.
Since then in four of the seven World Cup years, the Ballon d’Or has been awarded to a world champion – including Messi in 2023 (as the 2022 World Cup was in the winter).
However, that was the first time since 2006 it had happened, with Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Luka Modric all winning since then despite not winning the World Cup that year.
This is only the fifth time in the past 20 years that the Ballon d’Or has not gone to a player who has won either the World Cup, the Champions League or a European Championship/Copa America – with Kane joining Messi (three times) and Ronaldo.
Lamine Yamal, who won the World Cup with Spain, had been one of the favourites but lost out to Kane.
Last year, winning the Champions League helped PSG and France’s Ousmane Dembele to the crown.
Could Kane make it two in a row?
Kane may have just won the Ballon d’Or but some are already wondering if he is in a good place to retain it next year.
The striker has scored 10 goals in his opening 12 games for Bayern this season.
Throw in six goals in four Nations League games for England and that is a total of 16 in 16 matches so far.
Bayern are unbeaten in the Bundesliga and Champions League this season.
If they were to win a Treble – and Kane keeps scoring at about a goal a game – it would be tough to look past him, especially in a season with no World Cup, European Championship or Copa America.
The last player other than Messi or Ronaldo to win it two years in a row was Marco van Basten in 1988 and 1989.
However, Lamine Yamal will be hoping to make it third time lucky after finishing second twice in two years.
He has started the season in electric form, with 10 goals and 10 assists in 13 games for Barcelona in La Liga and the Champions League.
And Barca are currently favourites to win the Champions League, which could ultimately end up being a deciding factor.
He would be the youngest player to win the Ballon d’Or – aged 20 – if he does lift it next year.
Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe will also fancy his chances of winning for the first time, with 14 goals in 13 appearances for club and country.
The youngest winner remains Brazilian Ronaldo, who was 21 when he won in 1997.
Arsenal, who have never had a Ballon d’Or winner, and Paris St-Germain are two of the other frontrunners to win the Champions League.
