Harry Kane’s record-breaking goalscoring campaign for Bayern Munich has earned him the Ballon d’Or, making him the first Englishman in 25 years to claim football’s most prestigious individual honour.
The 33-year-old England captain was named the world’s best footballer at a ceremony in London, becoming the fifth Englishman to win the award since its introduction.
Kane’s triumph follows a remarkable season in which he scored 61 goals in 51 appearances for Bayern, setting a new single-season scoring record for the German club.
His achievement ends England’s wait for the award since former Liverpool striker Michael Owen won it in 2001. Other English winners include Stanley Matthews, Bobby Charlton and Kevin Keegan, who claimed the prize in 1956, 1966, 1978 and 1979 respectively.
Real Madrid and France forward Kylian Mbappe finished second in the voting, while Barcelona’s teenage sensation Lamine Yamal came third.
Speaking after receiving the award, Kane reflected on the challenges that shaped his career, saying his rise to the top had required patience, resilience and belief in his abilities.
“Not many people would have thought it, and maybe even I wouldn’t have thought I’d be this far,” he told DAZN.
He said he had endured several setbacks early in his career, adding that he was not initially regarded as a future superstar compared with some of the highly rated young players emerging today.
“I had to bide my time and work hard, a lot of times it was me against my own mind and I had to come through it, I had to show self-belief, determination,” he said.
Kane’s statistics underline the scale of his achievement. He finished as the Bundesliga’s leading scorer with 36 goals, 17 more than his closest rival, and scored 14 times in the UEFA Champions League despite Bayern’s elimination in the semi-finals.
He also contributed 10 goals in the German Cup, including a hat-trick in Bayern’s 3-0 victory over Stuttgart in the final, and added another goal in the German Super Cup.
His combined tally for club and country reached 73 goals and eight assists in 65 appearances, including 12 goals for England during the season.
Kane’s individual success came despite Bayern falling short of winning the Champions League, highlighting the weight of his personal performances in the Ballon d’Or race.
His victory also makes him Bayern Munich’s first Ballon d’Or winner since Karl-Heinz Rummenigge claimed the award in 1981.
Former England striker Alan Shearer had backed Kane for the honour, pointing to his exceptional scoring record for both club and country.
“The winner of the Ballon d’Or should be Harry Kane,” Shearer told BBC Sport, describing his numbers over the preceding 12 to 18 months as sensational.
Former England international Danny Murphy also praised Kane’s consistency and successful adaptation to German football since joining Bayern.
England manager Thomas Tuchel described the award as a “huge honour”, while Prince William hailed Kane as a “brilliant captain” and a “remarkable player”.
To mark the achievement, the Wembley arches were illuminated in gold on Monday night.
For Kane, who had previously finished as high as 10th in the Ballon d’Or voting, the award represents a career-defining milestone and recognition of a season in which his goalscoring exploits placed him among the world’s leading footballers.
