England captain Harry Kane has become the first English winner of the Ballon d'Or since Michael Owen in 2001. Kane, 33, enjoyed a standout 2025/26 season with Bayern Munich, scoring a staggering 61 times in all competitions.
Kane beat Real Madrid striker Kylian Mbappe - who finished second in the vote - and Barcelona and Spain forward Lamine Yamal, who placed third. Rodri and Lionel Messi made up the rest of the top five.
"I'm almost speechless," Kane said as he received his award on stage to a rousing reception at the London Palladium.
"Thank you to France Football, to the Ballon d'Or for putting on this amazing event.
"Being here in London has made it extra special. It looked like a good omen for me tonight, so thank you very much.
"Thank you to everyone who voted for me. I can imagine it was really tough this year, some of the incredible players I was up against, some of my team-mates, some world-class players in the room tonight."
Kane went on to reel off a list of former coaches he wanted to thank for his journey to the pinnacle of the sport, alongside current Bayern head coach Vincent Kompany, who was unable to attend the ceremony after collapsing at the club's training ground last week.
The striker also thanked Tottenham Hotspur, the club at which he announced himself as one of the world's leading forwards, and where he spent nearly 20 years.
"I want to say thank you to Tottenham Hotspur," Kane said. "I wouldn't be where I am today without Tottenham.
"I was there from when I was 11 and the club, and all the coaches helped me to live my dreams, and all of those memories and those ups and downs have led me to where I am today."
And Kane, who had loan spells at Leyton Orient, Millwall, Norwich City and Leicester City before finally becoming a Premier League mainstay, hopes his journey to the top can serve as "inspiration" for others.
"Lastly, for me, it's just the journey," he said. "For any young boy or girl wanting to achieve their dreams, anything is possible. With hard work, when no one else is watching, to go through the ups and downs, learn through resilience, determination and self-belief, anything is possible.
"My journey wasn't straightforward, I wasn't the kid who went straight to the top. I had to experience the downs, a lot of loan moves, had to fight my way to be the very best. I hope that can give you inspiration."
Last season, Kane - as part of one of Europe's greatest attacks alongside Luis Dias and Michael Olise - spearheaded Bayern to a 13th Bundesliga title in the last 14 years, and won the league's Golden Boot for a third consecutive year.
He then went on to score six times for England in their run to the World Cup semi-finals, including a crucial brace in the last-32 comeback win against DR Congo.
Kane had been made odds-on favourite by the bookmakers to win the Ballon d'Or on the award's 70th anniversary - held in London to honour its maiden winner and former England forward Sir Stanley Matthews.
Among his other contributions for the award, Kane netted 14 goals in Bayern's UEFA Champions League campaign last season, a tally only bettered by the 15 of Real Madrid striker Mbappe. His side exited the tournament following a pulsating 6-5 aggregate semi-final defeat to eventual winners Paris Saint-Germain.
Kane placed 13th in last year's Ballon d'Or standings, and 10th in 2024, and Monday marked his crowning moment after three spectacular seasons in Germany following his exit from Spurs.
He has recorded 156 goals and 40 assists in 159 appearances for the Bavarian club and, according to Transfermarkt, he is the club's joint-sixth highest goalscorer of all time, tied alongside Roland Wohlfarth.
The Ballon d’Or winner is selected from a 30-player shortlist drawn up by journalists from France Football and L'Equipe.
The shortlist is then ranked by 100 journalists, one from each of FIFA's top-100 ranked nations, with their votes combined to determine the winner.
Men's Ballon d'Or - top 10
- 1 - Harry Kane
- 2 - Kylian Mbappe
- 3 - Lamine Yamal
- 4 - Rodri
- 5 - Lionel Messi
- 6 - Khvicha Kvaratskhelia
- 7 - Ousmane Dembele
- 8 - Erling Haaland
- 9 - Michael Olise
- 10 - Fabian Ruiz
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