Harry Kane ends England’s 25-year wait for Ballon d’Or glory

Harry Kane has become the first Englishman since Michael Owen in 2001 to win the Ballon d’Or, overcoming competition from Kylian Mbappe and Lamine Yamal after a record-breaking season with Bayern Munich.

The England captain was named the world’s best player at a ceremony in London, becoming the fifth English winner of football’s most prestigious individual award. His victory also made him the first Bayern Munich player to claim the prize since Karl-Heinz Rummenigge in 1981.

Kane’s success was notable because it came without winning the Champions League, the World Cup, the European Championship or the Copa America. Bayern Munich reached the Champions League semi-finals but did not make the final, although they secured a domestic double.

Mbappe, the Real Madrid forward, finished second, while Barcelona teenager Yamal was third.

Kane’s victory ended a 25-year wait for an English winner. Stanley Matthews won in 1956, Bobby Charlton in 1966, Kevin Keegan in 1978 and 1979, and Owen became the previous English recipient in 2001. The wider British list also includes Scotland’s Denis Law, who won in 1964, and Northern Ireland’s George Best, who claimed the award in 1968.

Kane said he had been surprised to reach the top of the game.

“Not many people expected me to get here, and perhaps I did not expect myself to reach this level,” he told DAZN.

“I went through a lot of ups and downs, especially at the start of my career. I was never the player people thought was destined to become a major star, as some players are today.

“I had to be patient and work hard. A lot of the time I had to fight with myself, and I had to overcome that through self-belief and determination.”

He added that the journey had helped him remain humble and realistic, while the desire to keep improving had been central to his progress.

England manager Thomas Tuchel described Kane’s achievement as “a great honour”, while Prince William called him “a great leader and an exceptional player”.

Kane’s record-breaking season

Kane scored 61 goals in 51 appearances for Bayern Munich last season – a club record for a single campaign. His total was 19 more than any other player in Europe’s top five leagues.

His 36 Bundesliga goals made him the division’s leading scorer, 17 clear of his nearest challenger. He added 14 goals in the Champions League as Bayern Munich reached the semi-finals, 10 in the German Cup and one in the German Super Cup.

Three of his German Cup goals came in the final, when Bayern Munich beat Stuttgart 3-0.

His overall total rose to 73 goals in 65 matches for club and country, alongside eight assists. Kane scored 12 times for England during the same period, including six goals at the World Cup.

That placed him among the highest seasonal scorers in European football history. Only Lionel Messi, with 82 goals for Barcelona and Argentina in 2011-12, had scored more. Gerd Muller recorded 72 in 1972-73, while Cristiano Ronaldo scored 66 in both 2011-12 and 2014-15. Brazil’s Ronaldo also scored 66 in 1996-97, with Erling Haaland and Luis Suarez each reaching 64 in 2022-23 and 2015-16 respectively.

Former England striker Alan Shearer said: “Harry Kane should be the winner of the Ballon d’Or.

“His numbers over the past 12 to 18 months have been absolutely incredible, both with Bayern Munich and England. That is why he deserves to win it.”

Former England midfielder Danny Murphy described Kane’s scoring as relentless and said the award was deserved after one of the finest seasons of his career. Murphy also said Kane had adapted superbly to Bayern Munich and had been the world’s best out-and-out striker over the previous 12 months.

Kane’s numbers were particularly significant because Bayern Munich have previously fielded prolific forwards including Gerd Muller, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and Robert Lewandowski. His achievements made him the first Bayern player to win the Ballon d’Or since Rummenigge’s success in 1981.

A new challenge

Kane’s triumph marked only the fifth time in the past 20 years that the award had gone to a player who had not won the World Cup, Champions League, European Championship or Copa America. Three of those occasions were Lionel Messi victories.

Since 1995, when the Ballon d’Or was opened to players of all nationalities after initially being restricted to Europeans from its creation in 1956, the award has not always gone to a World Cup winner in tournament years. Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Luka Modric all won it in years when they did not lift the World Cup, while Messi’s 2023 award was linked to the Qatar World Cup, held in winter 2022.

Yamal had been among the leading contenders after winning the World Cup with Spain, according to the figures in the report, and impressing for Barcelona. Last year, Ousmane Dembele’s Champions League triumph with Paris Saint-Germain helped him win the Ballon d’Or, underlining the influence major trophies can have on the vote.

Kane instead prevailed through his individual output, consistency and impact across several competitions, proving that the absence of a European title did not rule out an exceptional campaign.

Wembley’s arches were lit gold on Monday night in recognition of Kane’s achievement. The celebration reflected the significance of an award that had eluded English players since Owen’s victory at the start of the century.

Attention has already turned to whether Kane can retain the prize. He scored 10 goals in his first 12 matches for Bayern Munich this season and six in four Nations League appearances for England, giving him 16 goals in 16 games.

Bayern Munich began the campaign unbeaten in both the Bundesliga and Champions League. If they were to win the treble and Kane continued to score at close to a goal per game, he would remain a leading contender, particularly in a season without the World Cup, European Championship or Copa America.

Yet successive Ballon d’Or victories are rare. The last player other than Messi and Ronaldo to win in consecutive years was Marco van Basten, who triumphed in 1988 and 1989.

Yamal will remain a major rival. He had scored 10 goals and provided 10 assists in 13 Barcelona appearances in the Bundesliga and Champions League, according to the report, while Barcelona were among the leading contenders for the Champions League. If he wins the award next year at the age of 20, he would become the youngest recipient in history; Ronaldo Nazario currently holds that record after winning in 1997 at 21.

Mbappe is also pursuing his first Ballon d’Or and had scored 14 goals in 13 matches for Real Madrid and France. Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain were identified as other strong Champions League contenders. No Arsenal player has won the award, while Paris Saint-Germain could strengthen its representation in the individual race by challenging for major honours.

Kane’s first Ballon d’Or therefore represents more than recognition for a prolific season. It completes a journey shaped by setbacks, patience and sustained improvement, while giving England its first winner in 25 years and returning Bayern Munich to the top of the award’s roll of honour after 44 years.