Kane ends England’s 25-year Ballon d’Or wait
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England’s football player Harry Kane wins the trophy for striker of the year during the Ballon d’Or ceremony at the London Palladium Theatre in London, England, yesterday. Photo - AP
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England’s football player Harry Kane wins the trophy for striker of the year during the Ballon d’Or ceremony at the London Palladium Theatre in London, England, yesterday. Photo - AP
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Spain’s London City Lionesses’ Alexia Putellas wins the player of the year trophy during the Ballon d’Or ceremony at the London Palladium Theatre in London, England, yesterday. Photo - AP
LONDON (AP):
Harry Kane won the Ballon d’Or yesterday, becoming the first Englishman in 25 years to receive football’s most prestigious individual prize.
The Bayern Munich striker scored 73 goals for club and country last season, breaking scoring records in Germany and at the World Cup, where he captained England to a third-place finish.
Kane topped the voting ahead of nominees, including Lamine Yamal, Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi.
“My journey wasn’t straightforward. I had to fight my way to be the very best right now,” an emotional Kane said.
Kane led Bayern to the Bundesliga and German Cup double, scoring a hat-trick against Stuttgart in the cup final.
At the World Cup, he scored six goals to surpass Gary Lineker as England’s leading World Cup scorer and move into the all-time top five. England reached the semi-finals, where they lost to Argentina.
No English player had won the Ballon d’Or since Michael Owen in 2001.
Yesterday’s ceremony was held in London for the first time, in recognition of the award’s inaugural winner 70 years ago, England’s Stanley Matthews in 1956.
Putellas hat-trick of awards
Earlier, Spain star Alexia Putellas captured her third women’s Ballon d’Or after leading former club Barcelona to multiple trophies last season, including the Women’s Champions League.
Putellas, who joined London City Lionesses in the off-season, also helped Spain win the Women’s Nations League last December.
The 32-year-old midfielder ended the three-year reign of Spain teammate Aitana Bonmati.
Putellas won the prestigious award in consecutive seasons in 2021 and 2022 before suffering an ACL injury and watching Bonmati rise to stardom. Bonmati, who completed a women’s Ballon d’Or three-peat in 2025, was not on this year’s shortlist after breaking her leg in December.
Jamaica’s Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw finished third behind Putellas and Poland’s Ewa Pajor.
“Truly grateful, truly honoured to be here tonight. It’s a special achievement and a special award as well,” said Shaw.
While falling behind the Lionesses and Barclona stars ahead of her, Shaw believes just to be considered means much.
“It means a lot. It means all the hard work, all the sacrifice, and the consistency that you put in throughout the year is finally paying off. Just to be nominated is a wonderful feeling.”