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Sports

Harry Kane Wins First Ballon d’Or After 73-Goal Season for Bayern and England

Harry Kane won the 2026 Ballon d'Or on Monday in London, beating Kylian Mbappe after a season in which he scored 73 goals for Bayern Munich and England and helped Bayern win the Bundesliga title.

By admin Oct. 27, 2026 · 8:41 AM ET 1 min read

A soccer player seen from behind holding a gold trophy above his head in a floodlit stadium at night

Harry Kane won the 2026 Ballon d’Or on Monday, October 26, at the London Palladium, taking soccer’s top individual prize for the first time. The award, given by France Football, goes to the best individual player in world soccer.

The England and Bayern Munich striker scored 73 goals in 65 matches during the period counted for the award, from August 3, 2025, to July 19, 2026, according to USA Today. He scored 36 goals in 31 Bundesliga matches as Bayern won the 2025-26 German league title, and he scored 14 goals in 13 Champions League matches before Bayern lost in the semifinals to Paris Saint-Germain. For England, he scored six goals and added an assist as the team finished third at the 2026 World Cup.

A soccer ball on wet grass on a soccer pitch at night, with stadium floodlights in the background

A close vote, and a night for Spain

Kane finished ahead of France captain Kylian Mbappe. Vincent Garcia, editor-in-chief of France Football, told L’Equipe that the points gap between Kane and Mbappe was smaller than the 41-point gap between Rodri and Vinicius Junior in 2024, according to Le Monde. Mbappe, who scored 58 goals in 60 matches in 2025-26, won no major title with Real Madrid or France last season, Le Monde reported.

Kane also won the Gerd Muller Trophy as the season’s top scorer. Alexia Putellas of Spain won the women’s Ballon d’Or for the third time, after winning in 2021 and 2022. Spain took eight of the 13 awards on the night, including men’s coach of the year for Luis de la Fuente and women’s club of the year for Barcelona, while Paris Saint-Germain was named men’s club of the year and Bukayo Saka won the Socrates Award.

Reporting based on coverage by USA Today and Le Monde.

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