Harry Kane Wins 2026 Ballon d'Or: Son Heung-min's "My GOAT" Post, Tottenham Thanks and the Full Results
Kane edged Mbappé in a race France Football calls razor-close, adding the Gerd Müller Trophy. Yamal was third, Putellas won the women's award. Son Heung-min's "my GOAT" message led Korean coverage.
TL;DR Harry Kane won the 2026 Ballon d'Or at the London Palladium on October 26, 2026. He is the first English winner since Michael Owen in 2001 and the fifth Englishman overall. Kylian Mbappé finished second, not Lamine Yamal. Yamal was third and won the men's Young Talent award (the Kopa Trophy). France Football's editor-in-chief said the gap between Kane and Mbappé was smaller than the 41-point margin in 2024, but no points totals have been published yet. Kane also took the Gerd Müller Trophy. As far as we can tell, no one has won both in the same year since the striker award began in 2021. In Korea, coverage centred on Son Heung-min's "my GOAT" message and on Kane thanking Tottenham in his speech.
The result
The 70th Ballon d'Or ceremony was held in London. ESPN reports that the event started about 30 minutes late. ESPN also noted that the official website listed the podium hours before the gala, calling it a blunder.
The 33-year-old Bayern Munich striker scored 73 goals for club and country across 2025-26, according to ESPN. He was a key player in Bayern's Bundesliga and Champions League campaigns and captained England to the World Cup semi-finals. Bulinews and Yahoo Sports point out that 73 goals beats Gerd Müller's famous 72-goal season.
ESPN's men's top 10:
- Harry Kane (Bayern Munich / England)
- Kylian Mbappé (Real Madrid / France)
- Lamine Yamal (Barcelona / Spain)
- Rodri (Spain)
- Lionel Messi (Inter Miami / Argentina)
- Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (PSG / Georgia)
- Ousmane Dembélé (PSG / France)
- Erling Haaland (Manchester City / Norway)
- Michael Olise (Bayern Munich / France)
- Fabián Ruiz (PSG / Spain)
How close was it?
The early framing that Kane edged Lamine Yamal does not match the final ranking. ESPN's official order puts Mbappé second and Yamal third.
The tight race was between Kane and Mbappé. France Football editor-in-chief Vincent Garcia told L'Équipe that the vote was "decided by very little." He said the gap was smaller than the 41 points that separated Rodri and Vinícius Júnior in 2024. Bulinews also quotes him saying that Mbappé led for a long time before Kane caught up. France Football has not published full points totals yet, so the exact margin is still unknown.
Ballon d'Or and Gerd Müller in the same year
Kane also won the Gerd Müller Trophy for best striker. Several Korean outlets, including Artive News, described the double as a historic first. Our own check of past results supports this. The Gerd Müller Trophy has been awarded since 2021, and in each year from 2021 to 2025 it went to someone other than the Ballon d'Or winner:
- 2021 and 2022: Robert Lewandowski won the Müller Trophy. Lionel Messi and Karim Benzema won the Ballon d'Or.
- 2023 to 2025: the striker award went to Erling Haaland, then Kane and Mbappé jointly, then Viktor Gyökeres. The Ballon d'Or went to Messi, Rodri and Dembélé.
All 2026 award winners
| Award | Men | Women |
|---|---|---|
| Ballon d'Or | Harry Kane (Bayern Munich / England) | Alexia Putellas (Barcelona / Spain) |
| Ballon d'Or runner-up | Kylian Mbappé | Ewa Pajor |
| Ballon d'Or third place | Lamine Yamal | Khadija Shaw |
| Young Talent (Kopa Trophy) | Lamine Yamal | Vicky López |
| Goalkeeper (Yashin Trophy) | Unai Simón | Cata Coll |
| Top scorer (Gerd Müller Trophy) | Harry Kane | Charlyn Corral (Pachuca / Mexico) |
| Coach of the Year (Cruyff Trophy) | Luis de la Fuente (Spain) | Pere Romeu (Barcelona) |
| Club of the Year | Paris Saint-Germain | Barcelona |
| Sócrates Award | Bukayo Saka | — |
Source: ESPN's full results. In ESPN's list, Putellas's win is her third Ballon d'Or. The ceremony did not hand out a "team of the year" award, and none appears in the published results we found.
Kane's speech: London and Tottenham
Kane told the audience that receiving the award in London felt "like a good omen." He said his career path "wasn't straightforward." ESPN confirms that he thanked England, Bayern and his former club Tottenham. Korean reports carried a longer version of the Tottenham line, in translation. They quote him saying he could not have reached this point without the club where he came through the youth ranks.
How Korea reacted
This section uses press reports only:
- Son Heung-min's posts. MK Sports reports that Son posted a photo of Kane holding the trophy on Instagram, captioned "Congrats my GOAT" in Korean. SPOTV News describes a "congrats Harry Kane" caption with the tuxedo photo. Artive News reports both an Instagram story and a comment under Kane's own post that called him a partner who deserves it "more than anyone." Outlets differ on which wording appeared where. The quotes above are translations of how each outlet reported them.
- Coverage framing. Sports Kyunghyang, Best Eleven, SPOTV and Wikitree all framed the story through the "Son–Kane duo" and the eight years the two spent together at Tottenham.
- Unverified. Fan-community claims about other private messages between the two players, or about Kane reacting to Son's post, have not appeared in mainstream reporting. We treat them as unverified.
FAQ
Who won the 2026 Ballon d'Or? Harry Kane (Bayern Munich and England) won the men's award. Alexia Putellas won the women's award.
Did Lamine Yamal finish second? No. Kylian Mbappé was second and Yamal was third. Yamal won the Kopa Trophy for best young player.
How narrow was Kane's win? France Football has not published the points. Its editor-in-chief said the margin was below the 41 points that separated the top two in 2024.
Did Kane mention Tottenham? Yes. ESPN and Korean outlets both report that he thanked Tottenham, along with England and Bayern.
Sources: ESPN – Kane wins 2026 Ballon d'Or · ESPN – full results · Forbes · Bulinews – France Football chief on margin · Yahoo Sports · MK Sports · SPOTV News · Artive News · Sports Kyunghyang · Best Eleven
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