LONDON — Harry Kane ended a quarter-century wait for English soccer on Monday night, taking home the Ballon d’Or at the London Palladium after a season in which goals seemed to follow him everywhere.
The 33-year-old England captain and Bayern Munich striker found the net 73 times in 65 matches for club and country, more than any other player in Europe. Michael Owen in 2001 was the last Englishman to claim the trophy, and Kane now joins Owen, Stanley Matthews, Bobby Charlton and Kevin Keegan on that short list.
Kane powered Bayern to a domestic double, winning the Bundesliga and the German Cup, where he scored three times against Stuttgart in the final. Bayern also made the Champions League semifinals, and he has now led the German league in scoring three seasons running.
His summer only added to the case. Kane scored six goals at the World Cup, moving past Gary Lineker as England’s top scorer in tournament history, and captained the team to third place after a semifinal loss to Argentina and a win over France. It was England’s best World Cup result in 60 years.
Kylian Mbappe finished second in the voting, with Lamine Yamal third. Yamal also collected the award for best young player for the third year in a row, and 2024 winner Rodri and eight-time champion Lionel Messi rounded out the top five.
On stage, Kane thanked his Bayern teammates, his family and his wife, and he urged young players to keep going through setbacks, recalling the loan spells that marked the start of his career.
Spain’s Alexia Putellas won the women’s Ballon d’Or for a third time after a treble-winning, 21-goal season with Barcelona.
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