Harry Kane Winning the 2026 Ballon d’Or Would Be a Bigger Deal Than You Might Realize

Declan Rice believes there is a “clear winner” for the 2026 Ballon d’Or and it’s Harry Kane.

Kane is among the leading contenders to collect soccer’s most prestigious individual award when it is presented at the annual Ballon d’Or ceremony next week, this year held in his home city of London for the first time. In that sense, it feels written in the stars.

“For me, he’s the clear winner. I think his numbers speak for themselves,” Rice told TNT Sports this week, referencing the 73 goals in 65 appearances Kane scored for Bayern Munich and England during the relevant period, from Aug. 3, 2025 until July 19, 2026.

The 33-year-old won the Bundesliga as part of a domestic treble in Germany, although there’s a valid argument that the Ballon d’Or is about far more than just who won the biggest trophy. At some point, pure silverware became a proxy for contention—putting Jorginho on the podium in 2021—and moving away from the best and/or most exciting player. And while winning trophies is always important, it is not the absolute be all and end all in these stakes.

“The year he’s had has been remarkable,” Rice said of Kane, at that point having just faced his compatriot in a Champions League match between Arsenal and Bayern.

“He’s obviously up against some world-class players. When you play with him, you realize how good he is and when you play against him, you see how much of a pain he is.”

Kane is more than a goalscorer, with Rice referencing an assist in the 2–2 draw. “As a striker, to play that pass for that [first] goal and to take the penalty how he did, he’s ridiculous. He’s such a good player. I’m lucky to play with him [for England] and not so lucky to play against him.”

Harry Kane’s Biggest 2026 Ballon d’Or Rivals

Kylian Mbappe, Lamine Yamal poster — Only two players can stop Kane winning. | Lars Baron/Getty Images

Kane’s biggest rival for the Ballon d’Or is Lamine Yamal. The teenage prodigy, who finished runner-up to Ousmane Dembélé last year, was instrumental in Barcelona dominating La Liga.

Ironically, he didn’t actually have a brilliant World Cup in the same way he lit up the European Championship that Spain won two years ago, taking an injury with him to North America sustained at the end of the club season and never fully healthy enough to be at his best.

Kylian Mbappé won no trophies for Real Madrid or France—which again underlines the importance of simply being a world-class player—but scored 58 times in total and scooped the World Cup Golden Boot. He is the other star expected to make up the top three.

This week, Kane responded to 2003 Ballon d’Or runner-up Thierry Henry with playful jibe about who the French legend’s picks for this year are. Henry claimed a few weeks ago during a segment on CBS that people in Germany believe Michael Olise was the best player there last season, while people in England believe Jude Bellingham had a better World Cup than Kane.

“Michael Olise, who’s very close to my favourite Kylian Mbappé,” are Henry’s top two.

So, when Kane was up for interview on CBS this week, Henry reasoned the Englishman would be a deserving Ballon d’Or winner, but is still “always going to root for my French guy.” To that, Kane jokingly replied, “I was watching a few weeks ago, don’t worry.”

Why Kane Winning the Ballon d’Or Would be a Big Deal

Should Kane be handed this year’s Ballon d’Or trophy on stage at the London Palladium on Monday night, it would be a major shift for two reasons.

This year marks a quarter of a century since an English player last won, 25 years on from an electric Michael Owen taking the 2001 edition. Kevin Keegan won in successive years (1978, 1979) while playing for Hamburg in Germany, which has echoes of Kane’s situation now. Sir Bobby Charlton (1966) and inaugural recipient Sir Stanley Matthews (1956) are England’s only other Ballon d’Or winners, accounting for five in total across 70 years of the prize.

Portugal, the Netherlands, Germany (all 7), Argentina and France (both 8) have clocked up more wins. That said, only Italy, Germany (both 5) and France (6) have had more different winners. Should Kane win in 2026, England would tie with Italy and Germany in that respect.

Every English Ballon d’Or Winner

Year	Player	Club
1956	Stanley Matthews	Blackpool
1966	Bobby Charlton	Man Utd
1978	Kevin Keegan	Hamburg
1979	Kevin Keegan	Hamburg
2001	Michael Owen	Liverpool

For the Bundesliga, too, it would mean an awful lot.

German soccer monopolized the podium in 1972, during an era of dominance in which eight out of 12 Ballon d’Or winners between 1970 and 1981 played for German teams. Serie A and later La Liga have been the most dominant forces since, so Matthias Sammer’s 1996 triumph is the only time in the last 44 seasons it has gone to someone in the Bundesliga.

Some might argue that is unfair, given Franck Ribery deserved the prize in 2013, harshly pushed into third place at the peak of the Cristiano Ronaldo-Lionel Messi duopoly, and Robert Lewandowski saw his Ballon d’Or run derailed in 2020 when the award was canceled amid the Covid-19 pandemic—even though most competitions were ultimately still played to completion.

Every Bundesliga Ballon d’Or Winner

Year	Player	Club
1970	Gerd Müller	Bayern Munich
1972	Franz Beckenbauer	Bayern Munich
1976	Franz Beckenbauer	Bayern Munich
1977	Allan Simonsen	Borussia Mönchengladbach
1978	Kevin Keegan	Hamburg
1979	Kevin Keegan	Hamburg
1980	Karl-Heinz Rummenigge	Bayern Munich
1981	Karl-Heinz Rummenigge	Bayern Munich
1996	Matthias Sammer	Borussia Dortmund

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