England striker Harry Kane of Bayern Munich has won the 2026 men’s Ballon d’Or, the first of his career, at a ceremony in London on 26 October. Spain’s Alexia Putellas won the women’s award for the third time.
Kane is the first Englishman to win the men’s award since Michael Owen in 2001, ending a 25-year wait. Putellas added a third award to her wins in 2021 and 2022.
Kane achievements
Kane scored 61 goals in 51 appearances for Bayern Munich across all competitions in 2025-26. Bayern won the domestic league and cup double. His total goals for club and the country makes a total of 73.
Kylian Mbappe finished second and Lamine Yamal third. Rodri was fourth and Lionel Messi fifth.
Women's award
Putellas, who plays for London City Lionesses, took the women's award, following wins in 2021 and 2022.
Other award
Barcelona's Lamine Yamal own the men's Kopa Trophy for young talent, and Barcelona’s Vicky López won the women's equivalent. The Yashin Trophy for goalkeepers went to Unai Simón of Athletic Bilbao and Cata Coll of Barcelona. Spain's Luis de la Fuente won the men's coach award, the Johan Cruyff Trophy, and Barcelona's Pere Romeu won the women's award.
Paris Saint-Germain won men's Club of the Year and Barcelona won the women's award. Kane also won the Gerd Muller Trophy for strikers, and Charlyn Corral of Pachuca took the women's award. Bukayo Saka of Arsenal received the Sócrates Award, which recognises humanitarian work and charity projects in football.
How the award works
The Ballon d'Or was created in 1956 by the French magazine France Football.
The name is French for "Golden Ball." Stanley Matthews, of Blackpool, was the first winner. The women's award began in 2018. It was long limited to European players at European clubs; since 2007, players of any nationality at any club can win. UEFA began co-organising the ceremony with the Amaury Group, which owns France Football, in 2024.
Journalists decide the winner. For 2026, the men's jury represented the top 100 countries in the FIFA rankings and the women's jury the top 50.
Organisers published a shortlist of 30 men and 30 women. Each juror ranked 10 players from first to tenth. First place earned 15 points and second place 12, with fewer points for each lower rank. The highest total wins, and ties are settled by the number of first-place votes, then second-place votes.
Official rules list three criteria in order: individual performance, team achievements, and class and fair play. A team's trophies can help a candidate, but individual performance comes first. The 2026 assessment period ran from 3 August to 19 July 2026, so only performances in that window count.
Besides the two main trophies, the awards include the Kopa Trophy for players under 21, the Yashin Trophy for goalkeepers, the Gerd MüllerTrophy for strikers, the Johan Cruyff Trophy for coaches, Club of the Year and the SócratesAward.
Records and history
Lionel Messi holds the men’s record with eight wins: 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019, 2021 and 2023. Cristiano Ronaldo won five times. Rodri won in 2024 and Ousmane Dembélé in 2025. Michel Platini won three in a row from 1983 to 1985; Johan Cruyff and Marco van Basten also won three each. Lev Yashin, in 1963, is the only goalkeeper to win the men’s award. George Weah, in 1995, was the first African winner. No award was given in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ada Hegerberg won the first women’s award in 2018, and Megan Rapinoe followed in 2019. Putellas won in 2021 and 2022, and Bonmatí in 2023, 2024 and 2025.
Why the award matters
A Ballon d’Or marks a player’s place among the leading footballers of their generation and shapes how careers are remembered. It also raises a player’s public profile. It is not a perfect measure of the best player: results depend on the voting rules, the assessment period, the nominees and the judgement of the jury, and a player who never wins can still be among the greats.
