All the updates as Kane becomes England’s first Ballon d’Or winner in 25 years after a prolific season.
This page is now closed, but a summary of the event is available below, and you can click here for our full report. Thanks for joining us at Al Jazeera Sport.
This page is now closed, but a summary of the event is available below, and you can click here for our full report. Thanks for joining us at Al Jazeera Sport.
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Well, there we have it, what on earth do we have to talk about for the next six months now?
Harry Kane has beaten Kylian Mbappe and Lamine Yamal to win the 2026 Ballon d’Or and become the first English winner of the award in 25 years, and he did it in his home city of London on the award’s 70th anniversary.
A special night for the Bayern Munich man, and a long one for the rest of us as the ceremony ended up overrunning by well over an hour.
Thanks for your company this evening. We’ll be back on Saturday with more live action from the Premier League. Until then, goodnight from me, Alex Hoad, and my colleague Patrick Keddie.
Men’s Ballon d’Or – Harry Kane – Bayern Munich & England
Women’s Ballon d’Or – Alexia Putellas – Barcelona/London City & Spain
Men’s Coach of the Year – Luis de la Fuente – Spain
Women’s Coach of the Year – Pere Romeu – Barcelona
Men’s Young Talent of the Year – Lamine Yamal – Barcelona & Spain
Women’s Young Talent of the Year – Vicky Lopez – Barcelona & Spain
Men’s Striker of the Year – Harry Kane – Bayern Munich & England
Women’s Striker of the Year – Charlyn Corral – CF Pachuca & Mexico
Men’s Goalkeeper of the Year – Unai Simon – Athletic Bilbao & Spain
Women’s Goalkeeper of the Year – Cata Coll – Barcelona & Spain
Men’s Club of the Year – Paris Saint-Germain
Women’s Club of the Year – Barcelona
Socrates Award (for humanitarian work) – Bukayo Saka – Arsenal & England
Welcome to the Ballon d'Or family, Harry! #ballondor pic.twitter.com/KpuSk49OmY
— Ballon d'Or (@ballondor) October 26, 2026
HARRY KANE IS THE NEW BALLON D'OR! #ballondor pic.twitter.com/jEn8E1bLEF
— Ballon d'Or (@ballondor) October 26, 2026
Ronaldo presents the award to…
HARRY KANE.
London erupts. The crowd chant Kane’s name.
A visibly emotional Kane said: “Wow, wow, wow. I’m almost speechless. Being here in London makes it extra special. Thank you to everyone who voted for me. I can imagine it was tough this year. Some world-class players.
“Without my teammates it wouldn’t be possible. I am wishing Vincent Kompany very well, I hope this has given you a bit of energy.
“Since I have been with Bayern I have improved as player and as a person. It’s an honour to play for Bayern. To represent you is a real privilege. Glad to be bringing this trophy back to Bayern Munich.
“To my England teamates. We had a special year, it wasn’t perfect, but we had a lot of great moments. It was truly an honour to captain you, this is for all of us.
“Thank you to Tottenham Hotspur. I wouldn’t be where I am today without Tottenham. I was there from 11 years old. All those ups and downs have led me to this moment.”
Here we go…
Kylian Mbappe of Real Madrid & France; Harry Kane of Bayern Munich & England; Lamine Yamal of Barcelona & Spain; Lionel Messi of Inter Miami & Argentina; Rodri of Man City/Barca & Spain; Khvicha Kvaratskhelia of PSG & Georgia; Michael Olise of Bayern Munich & France; Ousmane Dembele of PSG & France; Erling Haaland of Man City & Norway; and Fabian Ruiz of PSG & Spain are the nominees.
Ronaldo, a two-time winner, will present the award…
We’re finally back and the women’s Ballon d’Or winner is…
ALEXIA PUTELLAS.
Another trophy for Spain, and Barcelona too, really, although she now plays for London City Lionesses in the WSL.
It’s a hat-trick of Ballon d’Ors for Putellas, who also claimed the crown in 2021 and 2022 and she raises the trophy in front of pyrotechnics on the stage.
She said, partially via an interpreter: “It’s a pleasure to be here again. I don’t know what to say. Too many things. Congrats to all the nominees and winners.
“I want to say thank you teammates. So many Barca players were nominated and that shows the season we had. Any of them could be here giving this speech. We overcame some difficulties, but it was a great source of pride for me to be captain.
“Thanks to the coach, the staff, the medical teams and our fans. Thanks for all the respect and love you have shown me for 14 years. Thank you for all these moments and all these years. This prize is for Barcelona.”
We’re on to the main events of the night.
Temwa Chawinga – Kansas City Current & Malawi; Melchie Dumornay – Lyon & Haiti; Caroline Graham Hansen – Barcelona & Norway; Patri Guijarro – Barcelona & Spain; Pernille Harder – Bayern Munich & Denmark; Ewa Pajor – Barcelona & Poland; Claudia Pina – Barcelona & Spain; Alexia Putellas – Barcelona/London City Lionesses & Spain; Alessia Russo – Arsenal & England; and Khadija Shaw – Man City & Jamaica were the nominees.
2001 Ballon d’Or winner Michael Owen is on stage to announce the winner. It is… going to be announced after another commercial break. Ugh.
We have a brief interlude for some piano music and dance accompaniment.
The crowd in London got rather raucous with shouts to Harry Kane that he should win the Ballon d’Or so this might just settle them down a bit.
The Ballon d’Or trophies are being presented on stage.
Former England striker Alan Shearer and actress Sophie Turner present the awards to…
Mexico and CF Pachuca’s Charlyn Corral and England and Bayern Munich’s Harry Kane.
Corral said through an interpreter: “I am very happy to be here, the first Mexican to receive this prize and full of pride because my country, Mexico, is doing very well in women’s football.”
Kane said: “It was an incredible year for me last year. It was the best season of my career without a doubt. To score this amount of goals is something I am very proud of, but it would not be possible without my teammates and my family.”
This was not a vote, by the way. This is purely decided on the weight of goals and Kane’s 73 led the way.
Fans are being invited to vote for the BOAT – the Ballon d’Or of All Time.
Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Platini, Cruyff, van Basten, Beckenbauer, Rummenigge, Ronaldo, di Stefano and Keegan are the nominees – votes can be cast via the official Ballon d’Or website until tomorrow.
A poignant tribute to the late England player and manager Kevin Keegan follows, with South Africa’s Jayden Adams and Franco Baresi of Italy also remembered.
Arsenal, Bayern Munich, Bodo/Glimt, Flamengo and Paris Saint-Germain were nominated for the award.
After another pesky commercial break, former Arsenal players Sol Campbell and Patrick Vieira remain on stage to present the award to…
PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN. For the second straight season after retaining the Champions League.
The first major award to head outside Spain tonight. Will it be the last?
Ousmane Dembele collects the award, having missed tonight’s 2-0 Ligue Un win over Lyon through injury.
He said through an interpreter: “We have created quite an incredible club and we always fight together side by side.
“It’s incredible to be able to win two Champions Leagues in a row.”
Arsenal invincibles in 2003/04, Patrick Vieira and Sol Campbell, present the award to…
FC BARCELONA. A fifth award of the night for the club and a seventh in seven awards for Spain.
Club president Joan Laporta collects the award after his club’s quadruple-winning season.
The Socrates Award, honouring those who impact their community beyond football, is next.
Musician and football lover Burna Boy is on hand to present the award to…
BUKAYO SAKA of Arsenal and England.
Saka shares a story from a 12-year-old from a village in Rwanda, who was supported by the Big Shoe charity to help him deal with sight loss.
Saka added: “It’s an honour to receive this award. On behalf of all the children we have been able to help, thank you.”
Berger, Coll, Hampton, Lorena, Yamashita are the women’s nominees.
Courtois, Martinez, Raya, Safanov and Simon are the men’s nominees.
Former Manchester United and Denmark goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel is on hand to present the awards to…
CATA COLL and UNAI SIMON.
It’s Spain’s night alright. Another two to the tally. Six out of six.
Barcelona keeper Cata Coll said via an interpreter: “There’s no greater honour. It may be an individual prize but this is as much [my team’s] prize as mine. This trophy may bear my name but I didn’t achieve it alone.”
Athletic Bilbao keeper Unai Simon said via an interpreter: “It’s a real honour which wouldn’t be possible without the help of a lot of people. Thanks to everyone I have worked with.”
We’re now being treated to a montage looking back at 70 years of the Ballon d’Or.
It all started with England’s Stanley Matthews, which is why we are in London tonight.
Mikel Arteta, Luis de la Fuente, Unai Emery, Vincent Kompany and Martinez Luis Enrique are the nominees.
Thierry Henry sends the well wishes of the theatre to Kompany who is recovering after being taken ill after Bayern Munich training and is unable to attend.
After a rather frustrating commercial break Rafa Benitez remains on stage to present the award to…
LUIS DE LA FUENTE.
Four out of four for Spain. The World Cup-winning coach adds another accolade to his glittering trophy cabinet.
He said, via a translator: “My English is not good but I hope in the future I can [speak] better. It’s a real honour for me to receive this prize. The nominees have done more than enough to deserve this.
“This prize is not an individual prize, it’s for a whole team. Teamwork makes us invincible. This is a great honour.”
Giraldez, Jeglertz, Mielsen, Romeu and Sadiku are the nominees.
Rafa Benitez, who led Liverpool to the 2005 UEFA Champions League presents the award to…
PERE ROMEU.
Another win for Barcelona and Spain. Three out of three so far.
He said: “It’s a pleasure to be here and to receive this award. I feel this is a collective prize for the team. We have some excellent players and we have won many titles.
“I am very grateful for all the players who have been part of this season. I am who I am today due to the whole experience I have had at Barcelona.”
Buurman, Lopez, Schroder, Serrajordi and Yohannes were nominated for the women’s award.
Lucy Bronze presents the award to…
VICKY LOPEZ.
Another win for Barcelona and Spain as the 20-year-old attacking midfielder adds the honour to a quadruple last season and picks up the trophy for the second year in succession.
Pau Cubarsi, Yan Diomande, Lennart Karl, Lamine Yamal and Warren Zaire-Emery are the nominees for the men’s young player award…
2004 Ballon d’Or winner Andriy Shevchenko takes to the stage and hands over the award to…
LAMINE YAMAL, who claims the honour for the third time at the age of 19.
He said, via a translator: “It’s an honour to be here to receive this prize. I think this prize should have been for [teammate] Pau Cubarsi. He’s been playing at a high level and I think he deserves it.”
The winner of the 2026 Ballon d’Or will be crowned at Monday’s gala in London, the first time it has been held in Britain.
Still a teenager, Yamal could surpass Brazilian legend Ronaldo Nazario, who won the Ballon d’Or at the age of 21.
Al Jazeera Sport breaks down the award-voting criteria, top candidates and history ahead of the ceremony in London.
Kane, who scored 73 goals last season, is among the favourites for award with Lamine Yamal and Kylian Mbappe.
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