Harry Kane wins the 2026 Ballon d'Or, the first Englishman to win the trophy in 25 years: Spain takes the other awards

England striker Harry Kane has won the 2026 Ballon d'Or, succeeding PSG's Ousmane Dembélé. The announcement was made at a gala evening at the London Palladium. For the first time in the history of the award, the ceremony moved from Paris to the British capital, in honour of Stanley Matthews, the British football legend and the first winner of the trophy in 1956. The Bayern Munich striker becomes the first Englishman to win the award since Michael Owen in 2001. In a thrilling final, Kane beat Barcelona's Spanish striker Lamine Yamal and Real Madrid's Frenchman Kylian Mbappé.

In Germany, Kane has been breaking records one after another, winning the Bundesliga title with Bayern Munich. He was also a key player at the World Cup, where England finished third. Last month, the England striker became the fastest player to reach 100 goals in the German championship, achieving the feat in just 98 games. The award was decided by a jury of journalists, with one representative from each of the top 100 countries in the FIFA rankings. The official voting period begins on August 3, 2025, and ends on August 19, 2026.

Call it the Balon de Oro, Spain and Barça dominate the polls

Spain and Barcelona dominated the first awards at the 2026 Ballon d'Or ceremony, winning, among others, the award for best coach with Luis de la Fuente and that for best young talent with Lamine Yamal. The coach of the Spanish national team, who was declared world champion this summer, follows his compatriot Luis Enrique, the coach of PSG, on the list of winners of the award for best coach of the 2025/2026 season. Unai Simón, the goalkeeper of the Spanish national team and Athletic Bilbao, was also praised.

In women's football, the award for best coach went to Pere Romeu, the coach of Barcelona. The 32-year-old Spanish coach took over in July 2024, following the departure of Jonatan Giráldez, for whom he had worked as one of the assistants. Under his leadership, Barcelona managed to win four trophies in one season, triumphing in the league, the Spanish Cup, the Spanish Super Cup and the Champions League.

The Raymond Kopa trophy, reserved for the best talent under the age of 21, also ended up in the hands of Barcelona, ​​or rather, remained with the Catalan club. Winger Lamine Yamal won the award for the third year in a row. In women's football, Barcelona striker Vicky López also managed to retain her title. Meanwhile, the Women's Ballon d'Or went to Barcelona player Alexia Putellas.