KATHMANDU – England captain and Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane has won the 2026 men’s Ballon d’Or. Spain’s Alexia Putellas won the women’s award for a third time.
Kane beat France’s Kylian Mbappé and Spain’s Lamine Yamal to win the prestigious individual football award. He is the first English player to win the Ballon d’Or since Michael Owen in 2001.
Kane scored a total of 73 goals for club and country this season and provided eight assists, with 81 goals in total attributable to his personal contribution. With his performances, Bayern Munich won the German Bundesliga, the German Cup and the German Super Cup.
In the Bundesliga, Kane scored 36 goals in 31 matches and played an important role in giving Bayern the 2025-26 league title. Although Bayern lost to eventual winners Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) in the UEFA Champions League semi-final, Kane scored 14 goals in 13 matches in the competition.
He scored at least one goal in both legs of the quarter-final against Real Madrid and in both legs of the semi-final against PSG. At the 2026 World Cup, Kane scored six goals and made one assist for England, helping the team finish third.
In the women’s category, Spain’s Putellas won the Ballon d’Or for a third time. The Barcelona player had also won the award in 2021 and 2022. She has equalled the achievement of her former teammate and fellow Spain player Aitana Bonmatí, who has won the women’s Ballon d’Or three times.
Putellas, who has played for Barcelona, has played an important role in maintaining the club’s strong presence in women’s football. The 2026 Ballon d’Or ceremony was held at the Palladium in London. This year’s ceremony was held to mark the 70th anniversary of Stanley Matthews being named the first Ballon d’Or winner.
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