Harry Kane wins the 2026 Ballon d'Or: first Englishman in 25 years

Kane ends England's 25-year wait

Bayern Munich striker and England captain Harry Kane has won the 2026 Ballon d'Or. The ceremony took place on 26 October at the London Palladium theatre — according to UzNews.uz, for the first time in the award's 70-year history the presentation was held outside France. The 33-year-old Kane received the trophy from Ronaldo, reports Daryo.uz.

Why the award went to Kane

The victory was built on the 2025/26 season, in which Kane scored 73 goals in 65 matches for club and country: 61 goals in 51 games for Bayern, who won the German championship and Cup, and six goals at the World Cup, where England finished third. According to Gazeta.uz, the Englishman also recorded 8 assists, 14 goals in the Champions League (where Bayern lost in the semi-finals to the eventual winners, PSG), and a third consecutive Bundesliga top scorer title with 36 goals and the Golden Boot. Besides the main prize, Kane received the Striker of the Year award and the Gerd Müller Trophy for the season's top scorer.

The vote and the top 10

In the voting, Kane finished ahead of Kylian Mbappé (Real, second) and 19-year-old Lamine Yamal (Barcelona, third). They were followed by Rodri, Lionel Messi, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, reigning award holder Ousmane Dembélé (seventh), Erling Haaland, Michael Olise and Fabián Ruiz — such is the top 10 cited by Daryo.uz and Gazeta.uz. Kane became the fifth English winner in history after Stanley Matthews, Bobby Charlton, Kevin Keegan and Michael Owen, who received the prize in 2001.

Putellas and other winners

The women's Ballon d'Or went for the third time in her career to 32-year-old Spaniard Alexia Putellas, previously victorious in 2021 and 2022, tying her with former teammate Aitana Bonmatí, who won three years in a row. According to AFP, Putellas, who moved from Barcelona to England's London City Lionesses in the summer, returned to the top after an ACL rupture four years ago. Outlets differ in describing her season: Anadolu writes of four Barcelona trophies, including the Champions League; Deutsche Welle mentions a 'treble'; Gazeta.uz lists the league, Cup and Spanish Super Cup. Second place in the women's vote went to Ewa Pajor, third to Khadija Shaw.

Full list of awards and one contradiction

Among the other winners: Lamine Yamal received the Kopa Trophy for the best young player for the third year in a row, Vicky López the women's equivalent for the second year running; coaching prizes went to Luis de la Fuente (Spain national team, world champions) and Pere Romeu (Barcelona), goalkeeper awards to Unai Simón and Cata Coll, and striker awards to Kane and Mexican Charlyn Corral (Pachuca). The Socrates Award for humanitarian work went to Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), who, according to Anadolu, funded 120 medical operations for children in Kano, Nigeria. Barcelona was named best women's club, but here the sources diverge: Anadolu and UzNews.uz name PSG as men's club of the year, whereas Zamon.uz claims that Barcelona was named best club among both men and women.