Harry Kane wins Ballon d’Or 2026, Alexia Putellas claims third women’s crown

Harry Kane has won the men’s Ballon d’Or for 2026, and Alexia Putellas has taken the women’s award for a third time, at a ceremony held at the London Palladium on Monday night, 26 October. The awards were presented in the early hours of Tuesday in India; the event, scheduled for 8 pm local time, began about 30 minutes late, at roughly 2 am IST.

Kane, 33, finished ahead of France captain Kylian Mbappé and Spain’s Lamine Yamal, who were the other leading contenders. The Bayern Munich striker becomes the first Englishman to win the prize since Michael Owen in 2001, and the fifth English player overall. ESPN credited him with 73 goals across a season in which he starred for Bayern in the Bundesliga and the Champions League and captained England to the semi-finals of the 2026 World Cup. He also collected the Gerd Müller Trophy as the year’s best striker.

Putellas completes her comeback

Putellas, who won in 2021 and 2022, returned to the top after a long spell out with a torn anterior cruciate ligament that kept her sidelined for much of two years. The Spain midfielder, now with London City Lionesses after leaving Barcelona, beat a shortlist that included Khadija Shaw, Temwa Chawinga, Ewa Pajor and Alessia Russo. Aitana Bonmatí, who had won the previous three editions, was not on the shortlist after missing a large part of the season with a broken leg, Yahoo Sports reported.

Other award winners

Yamal retained the Kopa Trophy for the best young male player, his third in a row. Barcelona’s Vicky López was named the best young female player. Spain’s Luis de la Fuente won the men’s coach award, Barcelona’s Pere Romeu took the women’s coach prize, and Spain goalkeeper Unai Simón won the men’s Yashin Trophy. Mexico and Pachuca forward Charlyn Corral won the women’s striker award.

According to the full list published by The Big Lead, Cata Coll was named the best female goalkeeper, Paris Saint-Germain and FC Barcelona won the men’s and women’s club of the year awards, and Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka received the Sócrates Award for humanitarian work.

A ceremony in London

This was the 70th edition of the award, which is organised by France Football. It was staged in London rather than Paris this year to mark 70 years since Stanley Matthews, an Englishman, won the first Ballon d’Or in 1956. Among those placed outside the top ten were Jude Bellingham (11th), Declan Rice (15th) and Vinicius Jr (17th) in the men’s list.

The night was not without embarrassment for organisers. Shortly before the ceremony, the official Ballon d’Or website briefly published articles naming award winners, including Kane, Yamal and Mbappé, before removing them, Yahoo Sports reported. The confirmed results above are those announced on stage.

Sources

• ESPN: Harry Kane wins 2026 Ballon d’Or ahead of Kylian Mbappé, Lamine Yamal; first Englishman in 25 years
• Yahoo Sports: Harry Kane wins first Ballon d’Or, Alexia Putellas takes 2026 Ballon d’Or Féminin in delayed ceremony
• The Big Lead: Ballon d’Or 2026: Full list of winners
• Yahoo Sports: Ballon d’Or 2026: Winners, rankings, final awards results (live updates)
• ESPN: Ballon d’Or 2026 results: Full rankings, all award winners