Bayern Munich forward Harry Kane won the 2026 men’s Ballon d’Or on Monday, Oct. 26, at the London Palladium, according to CBS Sports, NBC Sports and Yahoo Sports.
Kane is the fifth English winner, according to Yahoo Sports, and the first since Owen in 2001. CBS Sports ranked Mbappé of Real Madrid second and Lamine Yamal of Barcelona third.
Harry Kane’s Ballon d’Or 2026 win at the Palladium
The ceremony took place at the London Palladium Theatre. Yahoo Sports said it was the first ceremony held outside France, staged in England for the award’s 70th anniversary and to honour Sir Stanley Matthews, the first winner, in 1956.
Owen, the 2001 winner, was on stage, Yahoo Sports reported.
Kane called it “the best season of my career”, CBS Sports reported. Yahoo Sports quoted him speaking to the England fans:
It was truly an honor to captain England, to lead you. This one is for all of you, for sure.
Harry Kane, as quoted by Yahoo SportsThe top 10 as CBS Sports ranked it
The top 10 below is as reported by CBS Sports. NBC Sports also reported that Kane finished ahead of Yamal and Mbappé.
| Place | Player | Club |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Harry Kane | Bayern Munich |
| 2 | Mbappé | Real Madrid |
| 3 | Lamine Yamal | Barcelona |
| 4 | Rodri | – |
| 5 | Messi | Inter Miami |
| 6 | Kvaratskhelia | PSG |
| 7 | Dembele | PSG |
| 8 | Haaland | Man City |
| 9 | Olise | Bayern Munich |
| 10 | Fabian Ruiz | PSG |
Kane’s 2025-26 season in numbers
Bundesliga.com published Kane’s season totals on July 20. The table shows his record by competition.
| Competition | Appearances | Goals | Assists |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bayern Munich, all competitions | 51 | 61 | 7 |
| Bundesliga | 31 | 36 | 5 |
| DFB Cup | 6 | 10 | Not listed |
| Champions League | 13 | 14 | 2 |
| Supercup | 1 | 1 | Not listed |
| England, all matches | 14 | 12 | 1 |
| England at the World Cup | 7 | 6 | 1 |
| Club and country combined | 65 | 73 | 8 |
Bundesliga.com said Kane won the Bundesliga top-scorer award for a third straight year and a second European Golden Shoe, nine goals ahead of Haaland.
What the win means
Kane’s win ends a 25-year gap. Yahoo Sports listed the earlier English winners as Matthews, Charlton, Keegan and Owen.
Bundesliga.com said Bayern won the Bundesliga, the DFB Cup and the Supercup.
Bayern reached the Champions League semi-finals, Bundesliga.com said. Kane scored 14 goals in 13 appearances in the competition.
England finished third at the 2026 World Cup, their best result since 1966, and Kane scored six goals in seven games there, Bundesliga.com said.
The site called his 73 goals the second-best scoring season by any player since 2000, behind Messi’s 82 in 2011/12. CBS Sports ranked Messi fifth.
For the shortlist debate, see our Ballon d’Or Power Rankings: Why Kane, Mbappe, and Messi Dominate the Shortlist. Our Bayern vs Arsenal team news gives Bayern’s Champions League context.
The other awards
NBC Sports and CBS Sports agree on the other winners. Yamal took Men’s Young Talent (named the Kopa Trophy by Yahoo Sports), Luis de la Fuente was named men’s coach, Unai Simon men’s goalkeeper and Bukayo Saka won the Socrates Award. PSG won men’s club of the year.
Alexia Putellas won her third Women’s Ballon d’Or, Vicky Lopez took Women’s Young Talent and Barcelona won the women’s club prize. Our earlier report on the other awards has more.
The website leak
Hours before the announcement, the official Ballon d’Or website briefly published articles naming Kane, Mbappé and Yamal as winners and then removed them, Yahoo Sports and NBC Sports reported. Yahoo Sports said the articles were published in error and that organisers said they had prepared for any eventuality.
Ceremony details
Yahoo Sports gave the scheduled start as 8 p.m. London time (GMT), which is 11 p.m. EAT on Monday, Oct. 26, 2026. CBS Sports and Yahoo Sports reported a 30-minute delay. NBC Sports’ live page gave both 4:30 p.m. and 4:45 p.m. ET as the new start.
It was streamed on ballondor.com and shown free on DAZN, according to NBC Sports.
