Harry Kane Becomes First English Player To Win Ballon d'Or In 25 Years

Harry Kane won the Ballon d’Or to cap a memorable year with Bayern Munich and England and became the first Englishman to win soccer’s top individual award since Michael Owen in 2001. Kane scored 61 goals for Bayern in 2025-26. His 36 in the Bundesliga won him the league’s scoring title for a third straight season and a second European Golden Shoe. He added 14 goals in the Champions League and 10 in the German Cup as Bayern won the Bundesliga, the German Cup and the German Super Cup. The England captain also helped The Three Lions finish third at the World Cup, its best showing since winning the tournament in 1966. Kane scored 12 goals for England in the voting period, including six at the World Cup. Kane’s 73 goals for club and country were the second-highest total by any player in a season since 2000, behind only Lionel Messi’s 82 in 2011-12. Kane is the fifth Englishman to win the award. The others are Stanley Matthews, the first winner in 1956, Bobby Charlton, Kevin Keegan and Owen. Kane is also the first Bayern player to win since Karl-Heinz Rummenigge in 1981. Messi holds the record with eight Ballon d’Or wins. Paris Saint-Germain’s Ousmane Dembélé won last year.