Kane Ends England's 25-Year Wait With 2026 Ballon d'Or

Twenty-five years is a long wait. Harry Kane ended it on Monday night in London, becoming the first Englishman since Michael Owen in 2001 to win the Ballon d’Or.

The Bayern Munich striker, 33, is only the fifth Englishman to take the award, joining Owen, Sir Stanley Matthews (1956), Sir Bobby Charlton (1966) and Kevin Keegan (1978, 1979).

The season that made the case

Kane’s numbers left the voters little room for debate. He scored 61 goals in 51 club matches last season — the most any Bayern player has ever managed in a single campaign — and added 12 more for England to reach 73 goals, plus eight assists, in 65 matches.

The haul broke down brutally: 36 in the Bundesliga, where he finished 17 clear at the top of the scoring charts, 14 in the Champions League for the beaten semi-finalists, and 10 in the German Cup — including a hat-trick in the 3-0 final win over Stuttgart. Bayern completed the German double, more than doubling Kane’s career trophy count.

Among players at clubs in Europe’s top five leagues, only Lionel Messi’s 82 goals for Barcelona and Argentina in 2011-12 stand higher on the all-time single-season list, per BBC Sport.

Beating the favourites

Kane won ahead of Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappé, who finished second, and Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal, third despite lifting the World Cup with Spain.

The win is unusual in one respect: Kane claimed the prize without winning the World Cup or the Champions League, having lost in the semi-finals of both. It is only the fifth time in 20 years the award has gone to a player who lifted neither a World Cup, Champions League, European Championship nor Copa América that season.

He is also Bayern’s first Ballon d’Or winner since Karl-Heinz Rummenigge in 1981 — remarkable for a club that fielded Gerd Müller and Robert Lewandowski. Kane’s previous best finish in the voting was 10th.

"I had to bide my time"

“Not many people would have thought it, and maybe even I wouldn’t have thought I’d be this far,” Kane told Dazn at the ceremony. “I had to go through many ups and downs, especially early in my career. I had to bide my time and work hard.”

England manager Thomas Tuchel called the award “a huge honour” and said he was delighted for his captain, while Prince William hailed Kane as “a brilliant captain and remarkable player.” The Wembley arch was lit up in gold on Monday night to mark the occasion.

Barcelona’s Alexia Putellas won the women’s award for a record-equalling third time.

What comes next

There is already talk of a defence. Kane has 16 goals in 16 games for Bayern and England this season, with the club unbeaten in the Bundesliga and Champions League. The last man outside Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo to win back-to-back Ballons d’Or was Marco van Basten in 1989.

Mbappé and Yamal will have other ideas — but for one night in London, England’s captain stood alone at the top.

Sources: BBC Sport, Associated Press.