Harry Kane wins first Ballon d'Or, Alexia Putellas takes 2026 Ballon d'Or Féminin in delayed ceremony

Harry Kane has won the 2026 men’s Ballon d’Or, capping off a career year for the 33-year-old England and Bayern Munich striker. In a monster season with the dominant German club, Kane scored 61 goals across competitions for Bayern, including 36 goals in the 31-game Bundesliga season. Meanwhile, as captain for the Three Lions, Kane led England to its best World Cup result in six decades. Kane beat out two soccer heavyweights, French captain Kylian Mbappé and young Spanish phenom Lamine Yamal, for the award. Though Yamal again fell short of the top award — he finished second to Ousmane Dembélé last year — he did earn his third straight Kopa Trophy, given to the best player under 21. Kane was also given the Striker of the Year award, alongside Mexico and CF Pachuca striker Charlyn Corral. On the women’s side, Alexia Putellas emerged victorious for the Ballon d’Or Féminin after a even more competitive race. Putellas, an attacking midfielder for London City Lionesses (formerly Barcelona) and the Spanish national team, returned to the podium three years after winning the award twice in 2021 and 2022. That gap was caused in part by an ACL tear that sidelined her for the better part of two years. Three-time winner Aitana Bonmatí, Putellas’ teammate from Barcelona and the Spanish team, missed significant time last year with a broken leg; as a result, she was left off the shortlist. That seemed to leave things open for a first-time winner, with players like Manchester City’s Khadija “Bunny” Shaw, Kansas City Current and Malawi forward Temwa Chawinga, Poland captain and Barcelona striker Ewa Pajor and England and Arsenal forward Alessia Russo among the other nominees. But Putellas’ importance to a dominant Barcelona squad last season was enough to keep the trophy in Spanish hands. This story will be updated.