Harry Kane has won the Ballon d’Or, becoming the first English player in 25 years to be crowned the world’s best player.
The 33-year-old was supported by wife Katie Goodland at the London Palladium on Monday night as a phenomenal individual season saw him edge out Lamine Yamal and Kylian Mbappe to the top prize.
While Yamal went on to win the World Cup in the summer, defeating Lionel Messi’s Argentina in the final, and Mbappe became the leading scorer in World Cup history, Kane’s magnificent goalscoring season separated him from his peers.
En route to winning the double with Bayern Munich, as well as guiding England to a third-placed finish at the World Cup, Kane scored 73 goals.
His 61 goals for Bayern Munich saw Kane become the first player to hit that total in a single season since Cristiano Ronaldo scored 61 for Real Madrid in 2014-15.
That total was 19 more than any other player across Europe’s top five leagues and his complete total, adding his 12 goals for England, saw him finish with 73. Mbappe would wrap up with 58 and Yamal finished with 25.
Harry Kane has been crowned as England’s first Ballon d’Or winner since 2001
Harry Kane scored 156 goals for Bayern Munich since moving to Germany in 2023
Kane also drew level with Peter Shilton on a record 125 caps for England during the recent Nations League fixtures
Adding assists, Kane’s total goal involvements last season came to a staggering 81.
Kane’s success on Monday night means that he has become the first Englishman to win the award since Michael Owen was crowned the world’s best player in 2001.
Since then, Ronaldo (Brazil), Pavel Nedved (Czech Republic), Andriy Shevchenko (Ukraine), Ronaldinho (Brazil), Fabio Cannavaro (Italy), Kaka (Brazil), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Lionel Messi (Argentina), Luka Modric (Croatia), Karim Benzema (France), Rodri (Spain), and Ousmane Dembele (France) have all won it.
Kane’s victory means he is also the first player from the Bundesliga to win the award since Matthias Sammer of Borussia Dortmund, won it in 1996.
Kane had been the bookmakers’ favourite for the award for some time and he has had to contend with plenty of noise around whether he will end England’s 25-year wait for a winner.
Since 2024, organisers France Football made the executive decision not to reveal the winner in advance in a bid to build suspense, although leaks in previous years led to the likes of Real Madrid’s Vinicius Jr boycotting the award after hearing Rodri was to be crowned the victor instead.
Kane with wife Katie at Oktoberfest in Munich last month
Kane was never going to miss Monday night’s iconic event, even if his family have had a hard time trying to stop stressing.
‘I think my wife would prefer to know and my family, it’s very stressful for everyone,’ Kane said last week.
‘From my point of view, of course, I’d love to know to just kind of see and not have to wait throughout the whole night. But it is their decision, I can’t control that. We’ll have to just enjoy it and try not to stress out too much.
‘I try not to think about it. Obviously it is hard not to. There are always rumours flying around and you try to stay away from it.’
In the end it was elation, rather than despair, for the Kane family as the suited up striker received the applause and recognition from his illustrious peers.
