Harry Kane won the 2026 Ballon d’Or in London on Monday evening, becoming the first Englishman to win football’s greatest individual accolade in 25 years, pipping Kylian Mbappé, Lamine Yamal and Lionel Messi.

The 33-year-old is the fifth Englishman to receive the honour since its inception in 1986.

Kane joins Michael Owen, the last one to achieve that feat in 2001, along with Stanley Matthews, Bobby Charlton, and Kevin Keegan.

He earned the honour with a season few strikers have matched, scoring 73 goals for club and country, finishing as Europe’s top scorer.

Kane also broke scoring records in Germany for Bayern, who won the league and cup double.

He captained England to a third-place finish at the World Cup.

Earlier on Monday, the organisers named him Striker of the Year, an award for the player who scored the most goals in the men’s game during the 2025/26 campaign.

It marks the end of a long journey, as Kane went ten years without winning a title, even though he became Tottenham’s all-time top scorer and a prolific goalscorer for England.

Experts say he was cursed to never win a trophy, so he joined Bayern in 2023.

The Ballon d’Or voters did not rush to reward him as Kane finished 13th in the 2025 vote, behind two Paris Saint-Germain full-backs and his England teammate Cole Palmer.

England manager Thomas Tuchel said at the time that the ranking should have been higher.

“Goals alone would not be enough, and major trophies decide the award,” Kane said last year.

He then delivered a double with Bayern and a deep run with England.

An emotional Kane used his speech to address young players.

“Anything is possible with hard work, when no one else is watching,” he said.

He also stressed the weight of the moment for his country and said it was a good omen to receive the prize in London.

“Playing for England is my biggest honour, and I am extremely proud to put English football back on the map with the trophy,” Kane said in his speech.

Kane takes over from Ousmane Dembélé, who won in 2025 and Rodri, who won the award before him in 2024.

Mbappé and Yamal, both far younger than the winner, now face another year of waiting.

For Kane, the focus now shifts to a season in which he will carry the status of the world’s best player.

His goals have already rewritten the record books at Bayern, and the trophy gives that run a final, formal endorsement.