Harry Kane wins 2026 Ballon d’Or, ends England’s 25-year wait with historic double

Historic double in London

Harry Kane has spent years chasing the biggest prizes in football, and his latest achievement has taken him somewhere no player has reached before. The Bayern Munich striker has won the 2026 Ballon d’Or, ending a 25-year wait for an English winner, while also claiming the Gerd Müller Trophy at the same ceremony. His 73 goals for club and country made the case, with the resulting double giving an extraordinary season an equally historic finish.

England’s fifth Ballon d’Or winner

The Leytonstone-born forward becomes the fifth Englishman to win the men’s Ballon d’Or, following Sir Stanley Matthews in 1956, Sir Bobby Charlton in 1966, Kevin Keegan in 1978 and 1979, and Michael Owen in 2001. Kane’s seventh Ballon d’Or nomination proved to be the charm, with the Bayern Munich striker finally claiming the coveted prize after years of falling short amid a lack of major team trophies.

His victory ends England’s 25-year wait for a winner and makes him the first player to collect the award as a Bayern Munich player. Matthews was the inaugural winner when the prize was introduced in 1956, while Keegan remains the only Englishman to win it twice and the only one to claim it in consecutive years. Keegan also previously held the distinction of being the only English winner playing for a foreign club, having collected both awards while representing Hamburg in Germany.

73-goal season powers the claim

Kane’s 2026 triumph follows a season in which he scored 73 goals across 65 competitive appearances for Bayern and England, alongside eight assists. He finished with the second-highest single-season goal tally by a player in the 21st century, averaging more than a goal per appearance across the campaign.

The final men’s Ballon d’Or rankings placed Kylian Mbappé second and Lamine Yamal third, while Lionel Messi ended the night in fifth. The final top 10: Harry Kane, Kylian Mbappé, Lamine Yamal, Rodri, Lionel Messi, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Ousmane Dembélé, Erling Haaland, Michael Olise, Fabián Ruiz.

Kane was joined in the winners’ spotlight by his female counterpart, Alexia Putellas, who won the 2026 Ballon d’Or Féminin. The Barcelona legend claimed the women’s prize for a record-equalling third time, following her victories in 2021 and 2022, keeping the award in Spanish hands for a sixth consecutive year.

Bayern campaign in numbers

Kane’s club campaign supplied the largest share of his remarkable total, with 61 goals and seven assists across 51 appearances for Bayern in all competitions. His Bundesliga record was particularly striking: he scored 36 times in 31 appearances, including 26 starts, at a rate of one goal every 66.1 minutes.

He carried that finishing into Europe, scoring 14 goals in 13 Champions League appearances as Bayern reached the semi-finals, while also contributing two assists in the competition. His domestic cup campaign proved even more prolific, with 10 goals in six DFB-Pokal appearances as Bayern secured their 21st triumph in the competition, including a hat-trick from Kane in the final against Stuttgart.

He also scored once in one appearance in the Franz Beckenbauer Supercup, completing a season in which his goals came across every major competition Bayern contested. His combined rate of one goal or assist every 59 minutes reflected how frequently he influenced matches, whether by finishing moves himself or creating opportunities for teammates.

The season also brought Kane a second European Golden Shoe and the Bundesliga’s Torjägerkanone for the third consecutive campaign, reinforcing his position as the division’s leading scorer.

The Gerd Müller Trophy makes it a historic double

Kane’s second award on the night was the Gerd Müller Trophy, which recognises the leading goalscorer across club and international football during a European season. Introduced in 2021 as the Striker of the Year award, it was renamed in 2022 to honour the legendary German forward, who died in 2021.

Kane had already won the trophy in 2024 and collected it again in 2026, but adding the main Ballon d’Or created a first in the ceremony’s history. No player had previously won two individual awards during the same Ballon d’Or gala, although organisers had confirmed that the rules permitted multiple honours because each award is decided through a separate voting process. The possibility had been there, but Kane’s 73-goal campaign turned it into reality, making him the first player to claim both prizes at one ceremony.

England record in sight

Kane’s contribution to England’s season further strengthened his case, with 12 international goals taking his career tally for the national team to 91. He became England’s record goalscorer in 2024, and his latest run has brought the century mark within reach.

Six of those goals came at the 2026 World Cup, where three were match-winners and Kane overtook Gary Lineker to become England’s leading scorer in World Cup finals. Lineker himself had been nominated for the Ballon d’Or five times, adding another historical connection to Kane’s latest achievement.

During the period used to assess the Striker of the Year award, Kane scored for England every 97.7 minutes. Since September 2025, he has also accounted for 32.4 per cent of England’s goals in matches he played, underlining how central he remains to the national side’s attack.

At 33, Kane has now collected the Ballon d’Or, the Gerd Müller Trophy, another European Golden Shoe and a third consecutive Bundesliga scoring title in a season that has reshaped his place in football history. England’s wait for another winner is over, and no player has ever left a Ballon d’Or ceremony with the same two individual honours that Kane has claimed.