England now has a new football hero, as the England football team captain Harry Kane wins the 2026 Ballon d’Or ahead of Lamine Yamal and Kylian Mbappe.
The Big Night in London
The 70th Ballon d’Or took place on Monday, 26th October at the London Palladium. It was the first time the event has taken place in the capital city. They wanted to celebrate Stanley Matthews, who won the first Ballon d’Or in 1956.
Harry Kane won two awards during the event. He was awarded the Gerd Muller Trophy for the worlds best striker. Then he also won the main prize.
He was awarded the prize after a vote from 100 journalists from top ranked countries. Mbappe came in as runner-up and Lamine Yamal came in third place. Yamal won the Kopa Trophy for the best player under 21.
He is the first Englishman to win the Ballon d’Or since Michael Owen in 2001 (25 years). He is also the first Bundesliga player to win the prize in 30 years.
Harry Kane was really happy on his achievement and said “It’s been an incredible year. Just grateful to my team-mates, our coaches and family. London is a great blessing for me.” on the night.
From Tottenham to Bayern: the Goal Machine
Harry Kane grew up in London and rose through the ranks at Tottenham. He scored an incredible 280 goals for the club, but never won any trophies.
However, moving to Bayern Munich in 2023 helped his career take off. He won the Bundesliga title in 2024/25 and 2025/26. During the 2025/26 season, Kane scored 73 goals and made 8 assists in 65 games. He scored one goal every 71 minutes.
He scored 36 goals in the Bundesliga, making him top scorer for the third year in a row and earning him his second European Golden Shoe. He scored 9 goals more than Erling Haaland. He also scored 10 goals in just 6 games in the German Cup.
Over 3 seasons in the Bundesliga, Kane has scored 98 goals in 94 games. In the Champions League he has scored 14 goals. However, Bayern failed to go any further than the semi-finals where they lost to Paris Saint-Germain PSG.
Kane has won plenty of awards. He won the World Cup Golden Boot in 2018 and the European Golden Shoe in 2024. He also won Bundesliga Player of the Season from Kicker readers in 2025/26. For England he has scored 91 goals in 125 games and he is their all time top scorer.
His Performance in the 2026 World Cup
In the 2026 World Cup, Harry Kane captained England and scored 6 goals as they finished runners-up for the first time since 1966. It was a special time for American fans as it was the first World Cup England have ever played on American soil.
Kane started his campaign with a bang, scoring twice in a 4-2 win against Croatia. This tied him with Gary Lineker for the most goals ever scored by England in a World Cup.
Later, he overtook Pele to become the highest scorer in World Cup history. Kane now has 14 goals in World Cups, the most ever by an Englishman.
However, Kane’s dream ended in the semi-final where they lost 2-1 to Argentina after late magic from Lionel Messi. They then went on to win a crazy 6-4 game against France to finish third. Kane did not start the game.
Why it Means So Much
This means so much for England as they have waited 25 years for someone to win the Ballon d’Or. Kane is now the 5th Englishman to win the prize after Matthews, Charlton, Keegan and Owen.
Overall, this feels like a deserved win. He has some crazy stats and has scored in some big games. However, fans will always have their say. Some may argue that Bayern did not win the Champions League and England lost in the World Cup Semi Final meaning they should have given more weight to team trophies.
But aside from the criticism, Kane has always been praised for his playstyle. He is not just a goalscorer, he likes to play deep and make superb passes to link play.
Overall, Kane’s story is all about patience. He had to wait years to win his first trophy, and then this one. Now they are both on his trophy shelf and fans are wanting more.
