Ballon d'Or: Kane and Putellas take top awards

England's Harry Kane and Spain's Alexia Putellas have taken the top awards at the 2026 Ballon d'Or ceremony in London.

Kane has become the first English winner of the Ballon d'Or in 25 years. Michael Owen was the last player from England to receive the prestigious individual accolade in 2001, but Kane’s incredible 73-goal haul last season for club and country earned him the award from French magazine France Football.

The England captain scored 61 goals in 51 games for Bayern Munich across all competitions as the German side completed a domestic league and cup double. He led England to the World Cup semi-finals, scoring six goals.

"Wow, I'm almost speechless," Kane said on stage. "First of all, thanks again to France Football and the Ballon d’Or for this amazing event. Being in London, it is extra special, it felt like a good omen.

"Thank you to everyone for voting for me. I can imagine it was very tough. Thank you to everyone that voted for me."

Kane, who thanked England, Bayern and former club Tottenham, said: "To my wife Kate, my best friend. We've been through ups and downs. You are my biggest support and I felt like you wanted this more than me.

"The anxious wait… Here it is, we done it and you always want the best for me. You sacrifice yourself to make me achieve my dreams. This wouldn’t be possible without you and it is something we can celebrate, not me. We’re a team. I can’t wait to celebrate tonight. I love you."

He added: "It’s just the journey. For any young boy or girl who wants to achieve their dream, anything is possible.

"I hope my journey, it wasn’t straightforward, I didn’t go straight to the top, I had to experience a lot of loan moves and fight my way to get to where I am now. I hope that can give you inspiration and thank you very much."

Kane was also presented with the Gerd Muller Trophy by Alan Shearer for his 73-goal haul last season.

Putellas won the domestic quadruple and the Champions League (UWCL) with Barcelona in the 2025-26 campaign before moving to Women's Super League side London City Lionesses in July.

She becomes the second women's player, after international teammate Aitana Bonmati, to win the award for a third time.

That means the last six women's Ballon d'Or's have been won by either Putellas or Bonmati.

Over the course of 53 games last season, Putellas scored 26 goals and provided 15 assists with Barcelona.

During the 2025-26 campaign, Barcelona won their seventh consecutive Liga F title and reclaimed the UWCL which marked their fourth European success in six years.

She won the UWCL Player of the Tournament after contributing eight goals and seven assists.

Poland's Ewa Pajor, who will face off against the Republic of Ireland in December for a spot in the 2027 World Cup, came second in the voting with Jamaica's Khadisha Shaw coming in third.

Barcelona and Spain went on an impressive run in the awards earlier in the night.

Lamine Yamal was honoured with the Kopa Trophy for a third year in a row while Barcelona colleague Vicky Lopez claimed the female edition for a second successive year.

Pere Romeu made it a hat-trick for Barca when he clinched women's coach of the year and Rafael Benitez handed over the men’s accolade to Spain boss Luis de la Fuente, ahead of Mikel Arteta and Unai Emery.

Spain's respective number one's Unai Simon and Cata Coll took home the prizes for best goalkeeper.

There was one Arsenal winner with Bukayo Saka recognised for his humanitarian work with BigShoe charity to take home the Socrates award.

Saka, who is recovering from a hamstring injury, said: "For me it's an honour to be here and it’s an hour to receive this award on behalf of all the children we’ve been able to help."

Barcelona and Paris St Germain were named women’s and men’s club of the year before a tribute to the late Kevin Keegan, a winner in 1978 and 1979, was played out.

Mexico forward Charlyn Corral of Pachuca was recognised as the best women's striker of the year alongside Kane.

The start of the evening was mired in controversy when organisers France Football accidentally posted three articles that seemed to indicate one of Yamal, Kylian Mbappe or Kane had won the evening's top men's prize.

In the final ranking, Mbappe came second while Yamal came third.

The ceremony was further delayed by 45 minutes as football's biggest stars struggled to get to London's Palladium due to heavy traffic in the city.

Additional reporting: Reuters and PA.