Ballon d’Or: Harry Kane Is the King of 2026; Lamine Yamal Has to Settle for Second Best; Kylian Mbappé Goes Home Empty-Handed
Harry Kane has won the 2026 Ballon d’Or: soccer’s highest honor, now in its 70th edition, thus goes to the English center forward for Bayern Munich, who was presented with the award on stage at the London Palladium during Monday night’s awards ceremony by Ronaldo “The Phenomenon.” For Kane, 33, this is the crowning achievement of a career at the very highest level, one that began to yield trophies after his move to Germany.
In the 2025–2026 season, Kane scored a total of seventy-three goals, won the domestic “treble” with Bayern Munich (the league, the German Cup, and the German Super Cup), and reaffirmed his status as the undisputed star of his national team at the World Cup as well. On that same stage, the high expectations leading up to the ceremony clashed with an outcome that left a bitter taste in Kylian Mbappé’s mouth, as he did not win any awards, while Lamine Yamal had to settle for his third Kopa Trophy (for best young player) of his career.
In women’s soccer, the stage was dominated by Alexia Putellas, who won her third Ballon d’Or after a season in which she scored 26 goals and recorded 15 assists, leading Barcelona to a four-trophy season, carrying on the legacy of her injured teammate Aitana Bonmatí and celebrating her summer transfer to the London Lionesses in the best possible way after a lifetime with the Blaugrana.
This once-in-a-generation talent found its fullest expression in the aforementioned Kopa Trophy, where Lamine Yamal made history by winning the award for the third consecutive time thanks to a flurry of trophies including the World Cup, La Liga, and the Super Cup with Barcelona, while on the women’s side, Vicky López had another memorable season, capped off by the treble and the Nations League title with Spain.
Between the posts, defensive solidity was rewarded with the Yashin Trophy going to Unai Simon, hero of Spain’s World Cup-winning team and record-holder for the longest unbeaten streak with 650 minutes without conceding a goal, and to Cata Coll, the Blaugrana goalkeeper with an impressive 23 clean sheets and decisive saves in the Champions League final against Lyon.
Returning to Kane, the English forward also won the men’s Gerd Müller Trophy, awarded to the best striker: his female counterpart was Mexico’s Charlyn Corral, the first player from her country to triumph at the France Football ceremony thanks to a record-breaking 57 goals with Pachuca.
Luis de la Fuente, head coach of the world champion Spanish team with a record streak of thirty-nine games without a loss and thirty-eight wins in fifty matches, and Pere Romeu, the architect of Barcelona Women’s total triumph—who ended the year with just one loss in forty-eight matches and one hundred ninety-three goals scored—went on to win the Best Coach awards for the men’s and women’s divisions, respectively.
On the club front, Paris Saint-Germain took the top spot in the men’s category thanks to its second consecutive Champions League title, the Ligue 1 championship, and a historic record of ten players named among the 30 Ballon d’Or finalists, while Barcelona dominated the women’s category by completing a clean sweep of four trophies this season.
The evening was further enriched by the profound humanitarian significance of the Socrates Award, presented to Bukayo Saka for his humanitarian work in Nigeria, where he funded 120 surgeries for children in Kano through his long-standing partnership with the BigShoe Foundation, bringing full circle a ceremony that honored the best of global soccer.
