Harry Kane pictured at the Ballon d'Or ceremony. Alamy Stock Photo
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Kane sees off competition from Kylian Mbappé and Lamine Yamal to be crowned first English winner in 25 years.
HARRY KANE HAS become the first English winner of the Ballon d’Or in 25 years after being honoured at London Palladium on Monday night.
Michael Owen was the last player from England to receive the prestigious individual accolade in 2001, but Kane’s incredible 73-goal haul last season for club and country earned him the award from French magazine France Football.
Bayern Munich forward Kane was a popular winner in the capital and has followed in the footsteps of Stanley Matthews, Bobby Charlton, Kevin Keegan and Owen as a Ballon d’Or winner from England.
Barcelona and Spain’s Lamine Yamal and Real Madrid forward Kylian Mbappé provided strong competition for Kane and the trio were bizarrely announced as winners on the official website hours before the ceremony in London.
Further chaos followed with the awards pushed back by 30 minutes to start at 8.30pm, but just over two hours later and Kane received the 70th Ballon d’Or to enormous cheers and chants of ‘Harry’ inside the London Palladium, minutes after London City midfielder Alexia Putellas claimed the women’s prize for a third time.
HARRY KANE IS THE NEW BALLON D'OR! #ballondor https://t.co/jEn8E1bLEF
— Ballon d'Or (@ballondor) October 26, 2026
“Wow, I’m almost speechless,” an emotional Kane said on stage. “First of all, thanks again to France Football and the Ballon d’Or for this amazing event. Being in London, it is extra special, it felt like a good omen.
“Thank you to everyone for voting for me. I can imagine it was very tough. Thank you to everyone that voted for me.”
Kane, who thanked England, Bayern and former club Tottenham, said: “To my wife Kate, my best friend. We’ve been through ups and downs. You are my biggest support and I felt like you wanted this more than me.
“The anxious wait… Here it is, we done it and you always want the best for me. You sacrifice yourself to make me achieve my dreams. This wouldn’t be possible without you and it is something we can celebrate, not me. We’re a team. I can’t wait to celebrate tonight. I love you.”
He added: “It’s just the journey. For any young boy or girl who wants to achieve their dream, anything is possible.
“I hope my journey, it wasn’t straightforward, I didn’t go straight to the top, I had to experience a lot of loan moves and fight my way to get to where I am now. I hope that can give you inspiration and thank you very much.”
At around 5pm an article appeared on the Ballon d’Or’s official website which stated “a record-breaking welter of league and cup goals in 2025/26 has propelled Harry Kane to Ballon d’Or success” and a link along with a screenshot quickly ended up on social media.
Two separate articles also emerged, listing Yamal and Mbappé as winners, sparking confusion before the ceremony was pushed back by 30 minutes.
After a performance by English singer Jorja Smith, the awards finally got under way and Yamal was swiftly honoured with the Kopa Trophy for a third year in a row before Barcelona colleague Vicky Lopez claimed the female edition for a second successive year.
Pere Romeu made it a hat-trick for Barça when he clinched women’s coach of the year and Rafael Benitez handed over the men’s accolade to Spain boss Luis de la Fuente, ahead of Mikel Arteta and Unai Emery.
David Raya and Emi Martinez missed out on Yashin award to Spain number one Unai Simon, while Cata Coll beat Chelsea’s Hannah Hampton to the women’s version.
There was one Arsenal winner with Bukayo Saka recognised for his humanitarian work with BigShoe charity and able to take home the Socrates award.
Saka, who is recovering from a hamstring injury, said: “For me, it’s an honour to be here and it’s an hour to receive this award on behalf of all the children we’ve been able to help.”
Barcelona and Paris St Germain were named women’s and men’s club of the year before a tribute to the late Kevin Keegan, a winner in 1978 and 1979, was played out on screens inside London Palladium.
Premier League record scorer Alan Shearer was on stage to present Kane with the Gerd Müller Trophy at 10.12pm for his 73-goal haul last season, with Mexico forward Charlyn Corral of Pachuca also recognised as the best women’s striker of the year.
It was then over to the main awards and, after Spain and London City Lionesses midfielder Putellas received her third Ballon d’Or Feminin from ex-England forward Owen, all eyes were on Kane and England’s captain was confirmed to rapturous noise.
“I want to say thank you to Tottenham Hotspur as well. I wouldn’t be where I am today without Tottenham for sure. I was there from 11 years old, all the guidance and all the coaches, you allowed me to live my dream,” the 33-year-old said.
“To all my England team-mates. We had a special year. It wasn’t the perfect year, but we had a lot of good moments. We built a great bond together, a lot of togetherness, the way we played and it is truly an honour to play and captain you.
“This one is for all of us, for sure.”
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