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Kane Ends England’s 25-Year Wait as the Ballon d’Or Lands in London
Harry Kane began his career on loan at Leyton Orient, Millwall, Norwich and Leicester. On Monday night, on the stage of the London Palladium, he was named the best footballer in the world.
The 70th Ballon d’Or went to the Bayern Munich striker after a season of 73 goals for club and country. He is the first English winner since Michael Owen in 2001. Kylian Mbappé finished second and Lamine Yamal third. Rodri, the 2024 winner, was fourth, with Lionel Messi fifth. Kane said the win was beyond his wildest dreams and that he was almost speechless. He thanked Tottenham, where he came through from the age of 11. Prince William called it a fantastic achievement, and England manager Thomas Tuchel congratulated him on a deserved award. Alexia Putellas took the women’s award, ahead of Ewa Pajor and Khadija Shaw.
There was a slight hiccup before the result. The Ballon d’Or website briefly published articles naming three different winners, then pulled them. The organisers said they had simply prepared for every eventuality. Only one of those eventualities turned out to be true.
Rodri and Laura Iglesias
Rodri returned to the ceremony as a former winner, this time with his partner, Laura Iglesias. Both wore Dolce&Gabbana at the 70th Ballon d’Or Ceremony at the Palladium Theatre on 26 October 2026. He finished fourth behind Kane, Mbappé and Yamal, which is a strong result in a year when the vote went to a striker with 73 goals.
Unai Simón
Simón won the Yashin Trophy for the best goalkeeper, and he collected it in Dolce&Gabbana. His case was built at the World Cup, where he won the Golden Glove and set a tournament record of 650 minutes without conceding. The old mark of 517 minutes belonged to Italy’s Walter Zenga. In 2024 Simón had finished as runner-up to Emiliano Martínez. This time nobody caught him. Spain had a good night all round: Luis de la Fuente was named coach of the year, and Yamal won the Kopa Trophy for the best young player.
Yan Diomandé
Diomandé was one of ten players on the Kopa shortlist, alongside Yamal, Pau Cubarsí and Warren Zaïre-Emery. He did not win it, but a place on that list says plenty about a forward who only joined Real Madrid from Leipzig this summer. He had already played at the World Cup for Ivory Coast. He also wore Dolce&Gabbana at the Palladium.
The close
Michael Owen was the last Englishman to hear his name read out, in 2001. Kane left Tottenham with three Premier League Golden Boots and no trophies. At Bayern he has won back-to-back Bundesliga titles and a German Cup, and this season he scored 61 times for the club alone. The vote followed the goals. For a player whose first senior appearances came on loan in League One, that is a long way to travel.
