England captain Harry Kane won the 2026 Ballon d'Or on Monday, October 26, becoming the first Englishman to receive the award since Michael Owen in 2001. During the same ceremony at the London Palladium, Spain midfielder Alexia Putellas won her third women's Ballon d'Or, equaling the record for most wins in that category. The event, organized by French magazine France Football, was held in London for the first time since its inception 70 years ago.
Kane’s victory followed a season in which he scored 73 goals in 65 matches for club and country. The 33-year-old striker led Bayern Munich to a Bundesliga and German Cup double, where he scored a hat trick in the cup final against Stuttgart. At the 2026 World Cup, Kane captained England to a third-place finish and passed Gary Lineker as the nation's all-time leading World Cup scorer. He finished ahead of Kylian Mbappé, Lamine Yamal, Rodri, and Lionel Messi in the voting.
Alexia Putellas, 32, received the women's award after a season in which she led Barcelona to a quadruple, including the Women's Champions League, before transferring to the London City Lionesses. She recorded 26 goals and 15 assists across 53 matches for club and country. Putellas previously won the award in 2021 and 2022. Other award recipients included Lamine Yamal for men's young talent of the year, Vicky López for women's young talent, and Bukayo Saka, who received the Socrates Award for humanitarian work.
The scale of the achievements involves high-level financial and athletic metrics. Kane became the first Englishman to reach 500 goals in official competitions, with his 2025-26 season averaging a goal approximately every 78.9 minutes in the Bundesliga. In Spain, the dominance of Barcelona’s program was reflected in the coaching and talent awards, including Pere Romeu winning Women's Coach of the Year. For the public, the event drew thousands of spectators to the streets near Oxford Circus, where fans remained until after midnight to observe the athletes. The ceremony also highlighted humanitarian efforts, noting that Bukayo Saka funded 120 medical operations for children in Kenya and Nigeria.
The immediate impact for the winners involves a return to their active schedules. Kane reported that he was scheduled for an early flight back to Munich on Tuesday for team training ahead of a cup game on Wednesday, October 28. Putellas continues her first season in the Women's Super League following what was described as one of the largest transfers in the league's history. The 2026 ceremony marks the 70th edition of the Ballon d'Or, and the next cycle for these individual awards will likely begin with the 2026-27 European domestic seasons and upcoming Nations League fixtures.