Harry Kane won the prestigious prize at the 70th edition of the Ballon d'Or in 2026 in a ceremony held in London. He became the fifth English player in history to win the accolade. The Three Lions captain is also the first Englishman to take the award in 25 years.
Kane secured the honour following his best-ever individual season. He finished the campaign as Europe's top scorer. In total, the striker scored 73 goals in 65 games across all competitions.
With 73 goals in 65 games – 61 of which came for his club and 12 for his country – the Three Lions captain helped England to finish third at the FIFA World Cup 2026.
He won three trophies with Bayern Munich: the Bundesliga title, the DFB-Pokal, and the Franz Beckenbauer Supercup. On the international stage, he led England to a third-place finish at the FIFA World Cup 2026.
The Inaugural Winner and World Cup Glory
Sir Stanley Matthews was the winner of the inaugural European Footballer of the Year award in 1956. Playing for Blackpool at the time, he beat Real Madrid's Alfredo Di Stéfano into second place and Raymond Kopa into third.
Matthews inspired Blackpool to a second-place finish in the First Division, their highest league position in 25 years.
Remarkably, Matthews was 41 years old when he won the award, making him the oldest Ballon d'Or winner in history.
Sir Bobby Charlton became the second Englishman to win the award in 1966. The Manchester United midfielder received the honour after helping England win the 1966 FIFA World Cup on home soil.
Charlton scored three goals during the tournament. His campaign included both goals in England's 2-1 semi-final victory over Portugal. He was named in the Team of the Tournament as England lifted the trophy with a 4-2 win over West Germany in the final.
Back-to-Back Success and Anfield Treble
Kevin Keegan became the third English player to win the award in 1978 while playing for Hamburg. He retained the accolade in 1979 after helping Hamburg win their first Bundesliga title since 1960.
Keegan remains the only English player to have won the Ballon d'Or in consecutive years.
He scored 17 league goals during the 1978-79 campaign. His tally included 11 goals in the final 12 matches of the season.
Michael Owen was the fourth English recipient, winning the Ballon d'Or in 2001 while playing for Liverpool. Owen helped Liverpool win five major trophies that year, including a cup treble of the FA Cup, League Cup, and UEFA Cup.
Owen scored twice in the final 10 minutes of Liverpool's 2-1 FA Cup final win over Arsenal. He also scored a hat-trick in England's 5-1 World Cup qualifying victory over Germany in Munich.
Owen finished ahead of Spain's Raúl and Germany's Oliver Kahn to become the first Liverpool player to win the award.
