Overview
- Harry Kane was announced as the men's Ballon d'Or winner at the London Palladium, finishing ahead of Kylian Mbappé and Lamine Yamal after votes were revealed on Monday.
- Kane's win rested on a 2025–26 campaign in which he scored 73 goals in 65 matches and helped Bayern Munich win domestic trophies while also collecting the Gerd Müller Trophy as the men's striker of the year.
- The ceremony suffered high-profile confusion when the official Ballon d'Or website briefly published three different winner pages naming Kane, Mbappé and Yamal and the gala started late because of delays in London traffic.
- Bayern officials and teammates attended the event in force and Kane used his acceptance speech to thank family, Bayern, Tottenham and to send well wishes to manager Vincent Kompany.
- Kane becomes the first English Ballon d'Or winner in 25 years, a result that sharpens an ongoing debate about how jurors balance raw statistics, team trophies and World Cup form when choosing the game's top player.