Ballon d'Or 2026: Harry Kane and Alexia Putellas Win

Harry Kane is the 2026 Ballon d'Or winner. The Bayern Munich striker beat Kylian Mbappé and Lamine Yamal to claim soccer's most prestigious individual award on Monday night, Oct. 26, becoming the first Englishman to win it in 25 years. On the women's side, Spain's Alexia Putellas won for the third time. "Who won the Ballon d'Or 2026" passed 1 million U.S. searches in a day on Google Trends, and the streaming service DAZN, which carried the gala in the U.S., was trending too. Here are all the winners and the context behind them.

What we know: the 2026 Ballon d'Or winners

Sources: ESPN full results and BBC Sport.

Harry Kane ends England's wait

Kane, 33, scored 73 goals across a season in which he starred for Bayern in the Bundesliga and the Champions League and led England to the World Cup semifinals, ESPN reported. He is the fifth English player ever to win the Ballon d'Or and the first since Michael Owen in 2001, after Stanley Matthews (1956), Bobby Charlton (1966), Kevin Keegan (1978 and 1979) and Owen, according to USA Today. USA Today counted his total as 73 goals in 65 matches during the award's eligibility window, Aug. 3, 2025, to July 19, 2026.

"Thank you to everyone who voted for me, I can imagine it was tough," an emotional Kane said on stage at the London Palladium, according to ESPN. ESPN ran a video with England manager Thomas Tuchel under the headline "There are no words left to describe Kane." Kane had been the clear betting favorite: bet365 listed him at 2/5 on Sunday night, ahead of Mbappé at 5/2 and Yamal at 5/1, USA Today reported.

His rivals had strong cases. Mbappé became the all-time leading scorer in World Cup history this summer with 22 goals, 10 of them at this year's tournament, and Yamal won the World Cup with Spain, ESPN noted. Spain beat Argentina in the July 19 final, per USA Today. Kane follows Ousmane Dembélé (2025) and Rodri (2024) as winners.

Alexia Putellas wins a third time

Putellas, the Spain star who moved from Barcelona to London City Lionesses, won the women's award for the third time, after victories in 2021 and 2022, USA Today reported. Barcelona dominated the women's honors, also taking Club of the Year, Coach of the Year (Pere Romeu), Young Talent (Vicky López) and Goalkeeper of the Year (Cata Coll).

Spain's big night, and a gracious Yamal

Spain's World Cup winners collected a stack of trophies. Lamine Yamal won Men's Young Talent of the Year, but used his short speech to praise his Barcelona teammate: "I'd have liked it to be [Pau] Cubarsí. This prize should have been for him. He deserves it," he said, per ESPN. Cubarsí finished second in that category. Coach Luis de la Fuente won Men's Coach of the Year, and Unai Simón, who kept seven clean sheets at the World Cup, won Men's Goalkeeper of the Year.

Arsenal winger Bukayo Saka received the Sócrates Award, which honors humanitarian work and social initiatives, according to the BBC. ESPN reported that the trophy was handed to him by the musician Burna Boy.

The U.S. angle

• Rose Lavelle, the U.S. women's national team and Gotham FC midfielder, placed 27th in the women's vote, according to ESPN's full rankings.
• NWSL players also made the women's list: Orlando Pride forward Barbra Banda finished 18th, and Kansas City Current midfielder Lorena tied for 28th.
• Familiar voices. The gala was hosted by Kate Scott and Thierry Henry, who are part of CBS's U.S. coverage of the UEFA Champions League, USA Today noted.
• Messi stayed in Miami. Inter Miami's Lionel Messi, on the 30-man shortlist, skipped the ceremony to attend the Messi Cup youth tournament in Miami, according to USA Today.
• Watching in the U.S. Coverage was scheduled for 3 p.m. ET on the Ballon d'Or website and DAZN. The show itself started about 45 minutes late, per USA Today.

Who else made the top 30

ESPN's full men's list shows how strongly the season's two dominant clubs were represented. Outside the top 10, Real Madrid and England midfielder Jude Bellingham finished 11th, Cubarsí 12th, PSG's Achraf Hakimi 13th and Vitinha 14th, and Arsenal's Declan Rice 15th. Seven PSG players finished between 11th and 25th, a reflection of the season that earned the Paris club the men's Club of the Year award: Hakimi, Vitinha, Ferran Torres (who moved from Barcelona), João Neves, Willian Pacho, Nuno Mendes and Marquinhos all appeared in the 11-to-25 range. Real Madrid's Vinícius Júnior was 17th, and Inter Milan's Lautaro Martínez 22nd.

In the women's vote, Manchester City's Yui Hasegawa was 11th, Bayern's Klara Bühl 12th and Arsenal's Mariona Caldentey 13th. France's Wendie Renard placed 14th.

How the Ballon d'Or is decided

The award is organized by the French magazine France Football. As ESPN explains, a jury of 100 journalists from around the world each selects 10 players, in order, from a 30-player shortlist, and the player with the most points wins. This year's gala moved from its traditional home in Paris to London, in honor of England's Stanley Matthews, who won the first Ballon d'Or 70 years ago, according to ESPN and The Guardian.

For two decades the prize was dominated by Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, who hold the all-time records with eight and five wins, respectively.

What's next

1. Back to club action. Kane returns to Bayern Munich's Bundesliga and Champions League campaign, and Putellas to London City Lionesses.
2. The 2027 race starts now. The next Ballon d'Or will reflect the 2026-27 season. Based on this year's results, young Barcelona players such as Yamal and Cubarsí, who finished 12th in the men's vote, are names to watch.
3. FIFA's awards. FIFA's separate The Best awards, which ESPN describes as the other top individual prize in the sport, are a separate vote.

The bottom line

Harry Kane finally has the individual award that eluded English players for a quarter century, and Alexia Putellas joins the small club of three-time winners. For more sports, read about Kimi Antonelli's U.S. Grand Prix win, the Thunder's injury blow to Jalen Williams and the state of the World Series.