Harry Kane wins 2026 Ballon d'Or, ending England's 25-year wait

gulfnews.com —

Harry Kane won the 2026 Ballon d'Or in London on Monday, becoming the fifth Englishman to claim the award and ending his country's 25-year wait for football's top individual prize. The 33-year-old Bayern Munich striker beat Barcelona's Lamine Yamal and Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe after scoring 73 goals in 65 appearances for club and country during the 2025/26 season, including 61 for Bayern, helping them retain the Bundesliga title and guiding England to third place at the 2026 World Cup. Kane is the first English winner since Michael Owen in 2001, joining Stanley Matthews, Bobby Charlton, and Kevin Keegan on the list. He also received the Gerd Muller Trophy for best striker, while Yamal won the Kopa Trophy and Alexia Putellas claimed the women's award.


With a significance score of 1.4, this news ranks in the top 39% of today's 32433 analyzed articles.

Get summaries of news with significance over 5.5 (usually ~10 stories per week). Read by 10,000+ subscribers: