Harry Kane won the Ballon d'Or on Saturday in London, becoming England's first winner in 25 years. The Bayern Munich striker beat Kylian Mbappé and Lamine Yamal to take the sport's most prestigious individual award.
Kane's win marks a major milestone for English football. The last Englishman to claim the Ballon d'Or was Cristiano Ronaldo, who won it while at Manchester United in 1998. Since then, the award has been dominated by European and South American stars, with Ronaldo, Messi, and Lewandowski claiming the vast majority of trophies over the past two decades.
The Bayern forward's victory comes after a strong season where he continued to establish himself as one of Europe's most prolific strikers. Kane moved to Bayern Munich in 2023 and has delivered the consistent goal-scoring output that defined his time at Tottenham. His achievement reflects both his individual quality and England's recent resurgence as a football nation, with the Three Lions reaching the Euro 2024 final earlier this year.
Mbappé, who recently transferred to Real Madrid, and Barcelona's teenage sensation Yamal represented the new generation of attacking talent. Kane's win over both signals that elite experience still counts at the highest level of the sport.