Kane becomes the first Englishman in 25 years to win football\u2019s prestigious individual award
\nLONDON
\nEngland captain Harry Kane won the Ballon d\u2019Or on Monday after a record-breaking campaign with Bayern Munich, becoming the first Englishman to claim football\u2019s top individual honour since Michael Owen in 2001. Spain midfielder Alexia Putellas won the women\u2019s award for the third time.
\nAfter a record-breaking season that cemented his status as one of the game\u2019s greatest goalscorers, he became the first Englishman to win the prestigious award in 25 years, after Michael Owen won it in 2001.
\n\u201cWow, wow, wow!\u201d Kane said after taking the stage. \u201cI am almost speechless. Being here in London has made it extra special. Made it a good omen for me tonight. Thank you to everyone who voted for me. I can imagine it was tough this year. \u201cSome world-class players in the room tonight. Congratulations to all the winners and nominees tonight and impressive showing determination and hard work can really achieve.\u201d
\nSpain midfielder Alexia Putellas won the Ballon d\u2019Or F\u00e9minin for the third time.
\nKane\u2019s move to Bayern in 2023 brought the team trophies that had long eluded him. In 2025-26, he coupled that success with goalscoring numbers that made him the leading Ballon d\u2019Or candidate.
\nThe England captain produced the most prolific campaign of his life, scoring 61 goals in 51 games for Bayern across all competitions as the German giants completed a domestic league and cup double.
\nBy the end of the season, Kane had established himself as Europe\u2019s leading goalscorer, turning every competition into a showcase of his finishing ability.
\nHis influence stretched far beyond club football. As England embarked on another attempt to end decades of hurt at the World Cup, Kane once again emerged as the team\u2019s driving force.
\nHe scored six goals during the tournament and led England to the semi-finals, combining his clinical finishing with the leadership and composure that have defined his international career.
\nIn many ways, the award represents the culmination of a remarkable journey. Few players have experienced a career arc quite like Kane\u2019s.
\nOnce struggling to establish himself at Tottenham Hotspur as a youngster, being sent out on numerous loans, he developed into one of the most complete centre forwards of his generation, capable of scoring every type of goal while also functioning as a playmaker.
\nThe Ballon d\u2019Or has often rewarded players whose success was built on flair and spectacle, but Kane\u2019s triumph is a tribute to consistency, intelligence and productivity on an exceptional scale.
\nWeek after week, he delivered. Match after match, he decided contests. There were no prolonged slumps and few quiet nights.
\nHis numbers were almost impossible to ignore.
\nKane finished the campaign with 73 goals for club and country, a total rarely seen in the modern era. More importantly, those goals arrived in moments of genuine significance, helping Bayern collect trophies and driving England deep into the biggest tournament in the sport.
\nThe competition for this year\u2019s award was fierce. Kylian Mbappe broke World Cup scoring records. Lamine Yamal helped Spain to World Cup glory. Yet voters ultimately chose Kane, whose excellence lasted the entire season.
\nAt 33, Kane has finally claimed the game\u2019s highest individual honour, adding a Ballon d\u2019Or to a legacy that already places him among football\u2019s greatest strikers as England\u2019s all-time leading marksman and their record World Cup scorer.
\nPutellas was presented with the women\u2019s award after winning the treble with Barcelona in the 2025-26 campaign, in addition to the Spanish Super Cup. She moved to Women\u2019s Super League side London City Lionesses in July after 14 years at Barca.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Kane becomes the first Englishman in 25 years to win football\u2019s prestigious individual award LONDON England captain Harry Kane won the Ballon d\u2019Or on Monday after a record-breaking campaign with Bayern Munich, becoming the first Englishman to claim football\u2019s top individual honour since Michael Owen in 2001. Spain midfielder Alexia Putellas won the women\u2019s award …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":105004,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-104993","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104993","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104993"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104993\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":105005,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104993\/revisions\/105005"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/105004"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104993"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104993"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104993"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}