Harry Kane has become the first Englishman to win the Ballon d’Or in 25 years after a stellar season for the Bayern Munich striker. Meanwhile, Spain dominates the ceremony, winning several awards.
The Ballon d’Or 2026 ceremony took place last night. Hosted by France Football, the event took place at the London Palladium in London. This marks the first time the ceremony has taken place outside France.
We must first discuss the main event, the greatest individual prize in football, the Ballon d’Or trophy.
There were several contenders for the Men’s Ballon d’Or title, 30 to be exact. But realistically, only a few players could have won it. Lamine Yamal had emerged as one of the favourites in recent months. He had a productive season with Barcelona, winning La Liga with the Blaugrana, and won the 2026 FIFA World Cup with Spain.
Kylian Mbappe is always among the favourites to win. He had a great season with Real Madrid and became the highest goalscorer in FIFA World Cup history with just three appearances in the competition.
But the award went to Harry Kane. The English national team captain and Bayern Munich talisman. The 33-year-old had a terrific season for club and country. In 65 appearances for Bayern and the Three Lions, Kane scored a whopping 73 goals and assisted eight.
He won the domestic treble in Germany, as Munich finished first in the Bundesliga, won the DFB Pokal Cup, and won the Franz Beckenbauer Supercup. He also led England to the semi-final of the 2026 FIFA World Cup and to their best finish in 50 years, third.
Harry Kane is the first Englishman to win the Ballon d’Or in 25 years. The last one to do so was Michael Owen in 2001.
Here are the top 10 players in the Ballon d’Or 2026 list –
- Harry Kane (Bayern Munich and England)
- Kylian Mbappé (Real Madrid and France)
- Lamine Yamal (Barcelona and Spain)
- Rodri (Barcelona and Spain)
- Lionel Messi (Inter Miami and Argentina)
- Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (Paris Saint-Germain and Georgia)
- Ousmane Dembélé (Paris Saint-Germain and France)
- Erling Haaland (Manchester City and Norway)
- Michael Olise (Bayern Munich and France)
- Fabián Ruiz (Paris Saint-Germain and Spain)
As for any surprises in the list, Lionel Messi, despite playing his football in America’s Major League Soccer, was ranked as high as fifth. However, seeing how historically World Cup performances have influenced the Ballon d’Or, it should come as little surprise that Messi, who had a stellar 2026 FIFA World Cup, was ranked as high as he was.
The bigger surprise, which some might even call a robbery, was Michael Olise being placed at No. 9. The French winger was one of the favourites to win it all. He was pegged by most to at least finish in the top five. But he finished behind the likes of Kvaratskhelia, Dembélé, and Haaland, players who did not have the best seasons by their own standards.
Olise had 27 goals and 35 assists in 69 matches across all competitions. That is more goals than Yamal and the most assists for anyone in the top 10 list. He also won three domestic trophies with Bayern Munich, the same as Ballon d’Or winner Harry Kane. The 24-year-old also broke the record for most assists in a single FIFA World Cup edition, providing for seven goals in the 2026 tournament for France.
This brings us to the rest of the ceremony, with the joint-biggest prize of the night being Ballon d’Or Féminin, or the women’s Ballon d’Or. In the eight seasons this award has been handed out, two players have now won it thrice. Aitana Bonmatí won three in a row from 2023 to 2025. And now, her Barça teammate Alexia Putellas has won her third after doing so in 2021 and 2022.
Putellas scored 26 goals and assisted 15 in 53 games across all competitions. She led the team to a UEFA Women’s Champions League win, the Liga F title, a triumph in the Copa de la Reina, and the Spanish Supercup. She was also named the UWCL player of the tournament and won the UEFA Women’s Nations League with Spain.
The Men’s Kopa Trophy, given to the best player under 21, was unsurprisingly won by Lamine Yamal. The 19-year-old scored 25 goals and assisted 20 in 57 matches across all competitions, won La Liga and the Spanish Super Cup with FC Barcelona, and won the 2026 FIFA World Cup with Spain.
The Women’s Kopa trophy was won by Barcelona’s Vicky López, who won it all with her domestic side while scoring 17 and assisting 15 goals in 53 appearances at the age of 20.
The Yashin Trophy, named after legendary Russian goalkeeper Lev Yashin, is given to the best goalkeeper of the year. This award was won by Unai Simón. The Athletic Bilbao goalie kept 22 clean sheets in 62 appearances. More importantly, he was vital in Spain’s 2026 World Cup win, smashing the record of most clean sheets in a single campaign with seven.
The Women’s Yashin Trophy was won by, surprise-surprise, another Spaniard in Cata Coll, who played a major role in Barcelona’s continental quadruple and Spain’s Nations League win.
The Gerd Müller Trophy, named after the German legend, is handed to the highest goalscorer in world football throughout a season at the top level. The Men’s Trophy was won by Harry Kane, who scored 73 goals in the 2025/26 season. Meanwhile, the Women’s trophy was won by Charlyn Corral, who scored 49 goals for her club team (Pachuca) and national side (Mexico).
The Sócrates Award, named after the legendary Brazilian footballer, honours humanitarian work and social initiatives taken up by a player. Historically, this award has been given to players like Sadio Mané, who constructed schools and hospitals in Senegal; Vinícius Júnior, who raised his voice against racism in football; and Jenni Hermoso, who was the face of the fight against sexism around women’s football.
The 2026 Sócrates Award was won by Arsenal and English winger Bukayo Saka. The 25-year-old has worked with several charities that provide medical care and aid to children and families across the world. He also helped fund shelters for families that were displaced after earthquakes in Turkey and Morocco in 2025.
The Men’s Club of the Year was Paris Saint-Germain. The French side won five trophies in the 2025/26 season. Starting the season with the UEFA Super Cup. They then won the FIFA Intercontinental Cup, the French Super Cup, and Ligue 1, and topped it all off with a back-to-back UEFA Champions League title.
We now come back to Spain dominating the ceremony, as Barcelona was named the Women’s Club of the Year, having won everything there is to win in the 2025/26 season.
The last two awards for Men’s and Women’s Coach of the Year were both won by Spaniards as well. The men’s title was taken by Lis de la Fuente, manager of the Spanish national team, who led the side to a dominant 2026 FIFA World Cup win.
The women’s award, on the other hand, was won by Barcelona manager Pere Romeu. By this point, it must be obvious why the women’s portion of this Ballon d’Or 2026 ceremony was dominated by Barcelona.
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