Arya News - Kane won the honor for the first time after a massive season with Bayern Munich; Putellas took the award for the third time in her career in an overlong, Spain-heavy 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. Spanish striker Alexia Putellas took the Ballon d"Or Féminin, her third time winning the honor, in what became a very Spain-heavy night at the London Palladium on Monday.
In a monster season with the dominant German club, Kane scored 61 goals across all 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, with the team earning third place.
Kane was emotional as he earned the award, the first of his career.
"I"m almost speechless," Kane said in a speech, before thanking his teammates in the audience and his family, among others, and calling Bayern Munich "an honor to play for."
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, and third this year — he did earn his third straight Kopa Trophy, given to the best player under 21.
Kane was also awarded the Striker of the Year award alongside Mexico and CF Pachuca striker Charlyn Corral, given to the top scorers internationally.
On the women"s side, 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.
Alexia Putellas won the Ballon d"Or Féminin for the third time on Monday; Harry Kane took home the trophy for the first time. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
(AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
In her speech, Putellas noted the number of Barcelona players that were nominated for the award — five of the 10 finalists play for Barça — and thanked her family and friend for helping her back from her injury.
"I had a tough time and had to learn to walk again on my knee and you were all there for me, helping me to enjoy the sport again and make me the player I am today," Putellas said.
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 (of Jamaica) and Barcelona striker Ewa Pajor (of Poland) among the other nominees. But Putellas" importance to a dominant Barcelona squad last season was enough to keep the trophy in Spanish hands.
Kane, Putellas reign in a Spain-heavy, overlong ceremony
Though Kane and Putellas ended up taking the final awards, it took quite a while to get to that point. The ceremony itself, which was delayed by 45 minutes, dragged significantly and began to lose control of its audience as time went on. One switch to commercial, before the women"s Ballon d"Or was named, was met with audible boos from an audience that had been surprisingly patient throughout the delays.
The lengthy ceremony came after another snafu, when the official Ballon d"Or website posted stories about Kane, Yamal and Mbappé — the three top finalists — winning the award hours before the final result was announced. The stories, which appeared to be drafts in case of the different winning results, were deleted before the ceremony.
Overall, it was a Spain-heavy night, with eight of the 12 award winners involved with La Liga clubs, La Liga F clubs or the Spain national teams. Alongside Putellas, FC Barcelona was named the best women"s club, with goalkeeper Cata Coll, head coach Pere Romeu and young star Vicky López taking their respective awards.
The men"s Spanish national team, after winning its second World Cup title this summer, was also well-represented: In addition to Yamal, coach Luis de la Fuente and goalkeeper Unai Simón also took home honors.
U.S. women"s national team and Gotham FC midfielder Rose Lavelle, the only American on the shortlist for either award, finished in 27th place out of 30 total nominees. (The Ballon d"Or, which is awarded by "France Football" magazine and voted on by a number of international journalists, often tilts in favor of European players, making the lack of Americans pretty familiar.)
Another USWNT starter, 19-year-old OL Lyonnes midfielder Lily Yohannes, was one of five finalists for the young talent award. Yohannes lost out to Barcelona"s Vicky López, who earned the Kopa Trophy for the second straight year.
Two star NWSL forwards on the list, Kansas City Current"s Temwa Chawinga and Orlando Pride"s Barbra Banda, finished 10th and 18th, respectively.
Inter Miami and Argentina star Lionel Messi, in what might be his final Ballon d"Or nomination after the legendary midfielder announced his international retirement , finished in fifth place in the men"s voting. Messi has won the award a record eight times across his career, with his first win in 2009.
Another interesting nominee was World Cup fan-favorite Vozinha, the 40-year-old goalie for the Cape Verde national team who became a breakout star during the tournament and became one of the nominees for Goalkeeper of the Year. He ended up losing out to Spain"s Unai Simón.
Full Ballon d"Or results:
Young talent: Vicky López (Barcelona, Spain), Lamine Yamal (Barcelona, Spain)
Coach of the Year: Pere Romeu (Barcelona Femení), Luis de la Fuente (Spain men"s national team)
Goalkeeper of the Year: Cata Coll (Barcelona, Spain), Unai Simón (Athletic Bilbao, Spain)
Club of the Year: FC Barcelona (women"s), Paris Saint-Germain (men"s)
Top scorer: Charlyn Corral (CF Pachuca, Mexico), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich, England)
Ballon d"Or Féminin: Alexia Putellas (London City Lionesses, Spain)
Ballon d"Or: Harry Kane (Bayern Munich, England)