The Ballon d'Or 2026 winners are Harry Kane and Alexia Putellas. On a rain-delayed night at the London Palladium on Monday, 26 October 2026, Kane was crowned the best men's footballer in the world for the first time, while Putellas collected the women's award for a third time, confirming a night that football fans had been waiting for all season. The results, trending per news coverage within minutes of the announcement, ended months of debate about who deserved the sport's most famous individual prize.
Kane, the England captain and Bayern Munich striker, beat Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe and Barcelona's Lamine Yamal to the men's award. Putellas, the Spain midfielder who captained Barcelona to a quadruple before joining London City Lionesses in the summer, beat a field stacked with her own former team-mates. It was the 70th edition of the Ballon d'Or, staged in London to honour Stanley Matthews, the first winner of the prize back in 1956.
Ballon d'Or 2026 Winners: How Harry Kane Made History
For Harry Kane, the Ballon d'Or 2026 winners' list marks the end of a long wait. The 33-year-old has been among the world's best strikers for more than a decade, yet the sport's top individual honour had always eluded him. That changed in London, his home city, in front of a crowd that chanted his name as he walked to the stage.
"It being here in London as well has made it extra special," Kane said in his acceptance speech. "Thank you very much. Thank you to everyone who voted for me. I can imagine it was really tough this year — some incredible players I was up against." An emotional Kane thanked England, Bayern Munich and former club Tottenham Hotspur, and spoke directly to young players watching at home: "For any young boy or girl who wants to achieve their dream, anything is possible. I hope my journey, it wasn't straightforward, I didn't go straight to the top, I had to experience a lot of loan moves and fight my way to get to where I am now."
The numbers behind Kane's season explain why voters finally chose him. He scored 73 goals in 65 competitive matches for club and country, winning the league and cup double with Bayern Munich. In the Bundesliga alone he scored 36 goals in 31 matches as Bayern won the 2025-26 German title, and he added 14 goals in 13 Champions League matches, scoring in both legs of the quarter-final against Real Madrid and both legs of the semi-final against Paris Saint-Germain. For England, he scored six goals and added an assist as the Three Lions finished third at the 2026 World Cup.
Kane is the first Englishman to win the Ballon d'Or since Michael Owen in 2001, joining a short list of English winners that includes Stanley Matthews, Bobby Charlton and Kevin Keegan. The award is voted on by journalists from each of the top 100 countries in the FIFA rankings, and Kane's win comes in a new era for the prize: after Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo won all but two editions between 2008 and 2023, the winner has become far less predictable. He was presented with the trophy by Ronaldo on stage at the Palladium.
Ballon d'Or 2026 Winners: Alexia Putellas Completes Her Own Treble
Alexia Putellas, meanwhile, is no stranger to this stage. The 32-year-old Spain star previously won the women's Ballon d'Or in 2021 and 2022, and her third crown caps another dominant season at the heart of Barcelona's success. She captained Barcelona Femeni to a quadruple — the league title, two domestic cups and the Women's Champions League — before signing for London City Lionesses in England in the summer of 2026.
"I don't know what to say, too many things. Congrats to all the nominees, congrats to all the winners," Putellas said on stage. "That so many Barca players were nominated says a lot about the season we had. It was my honour to be your captain." Her win underlines how dominant Barcelona's women's team has been: the club also won the women's club of the year award, goalkeeper Cata Coll won the women's Lev Yashin Trophy for best goalkeeper, and Vicky Lopez won the women's Kopa Trophy for best young player.
Putellas was widely expected to win after another season in which she was, in the words of many observers, the heartbeat of an unrivalled team. Her move to London City Lionesses, one of the most talked-about transfers of the summer, means the women's Ballon d'Or now resides in England alongside the men's prize — a neat symmetry for a ceremony staged in London.
Full List of Ballon d'Or 2026 Results
Beyond the two headline prizes, the ceremony handed out a full set of awards. Lamine Yamal, who finished in the top three for the men's Ballon d'Or, won the men's Kopa Trophy for best young player for a third consecutive season, although he said he believed team-mate Pau Cubarsi should have won it. Paris Saint-Germain were named men's club of the year, while Spain's national team coach Luis de la Fuente won the men's coach of the year award and goalkeeper Unai Simon won the men's Lev Yashin Trophy.
Barcelona's dominance of the women's awards continued with Pere Romeu named women's coach of the year. Kane also collected the Gerd Muller Trophy for top scorer, an award shared on the women's side by Mexico striker Charlyn Corral of Pachuca. Arsenal and England winger Bukayo Saka received the Socrates Award for his charity work at home and abroad. For readers catching up on how the night was set up, our Ballon d'Or 2026 ceremony preview explains the nominees, the favourites and how the London ceremony works.
Why the 2026 Ceremony Was Delayed — and the Pre-Show Leak
The ceremony itself did not go entirely to plan. The start was delayed by 45 minutes to 8.45pm local time because of heavy rain and traffic-logged streets in London, leaving guests and viewers waiting. Earlier in the day there was further chaos when the Ballon d'Or website briefly published three separate articles naming Kane, Yamal and Mbappe as the winner, a leak that fuelled speculation right up to the announcement.
In the end, none of the confusion mattered. When Kane's name was read out, the Palladium erupted, and the 73-goal marksman — as one live report described him — finally had the golden ball in his hands. The ceremony's move to London for the 70th anniversary gave the night an extra layer of history: it was in England that Matthews won the first award, and it was in London that Kane became the first English winner in 25 years.
What the Ballon d'Or 2026 Winners Mean Next
For Kane, the award changes how his career will be remembered. He left Tottenham in 2023 without a major trophy, a fact that followed him for years; he now owns two Bundesliga titles, the DFB-Pokal and the Ballon d'Or. For Putellas, a third Ballon d'Or cements her place among the greatest women's players of all time, and her new chapter in London will be watched closely as the women's game keeps growing.
For the rest of football, the results set up the next debate. Yamal, still a teenager in football terms, has now won three Kopa Trophies in a row and finished on the men's podium; Mbappe remains a perennial contender. The 2026-27 season will decide whether Kane and Putellas can defend their crowns — or whether a new name takes the golden ball next year. Football fans can also follow how the women's game continues to expand with our guide to the FIFA Women's Club World Cup 2028, and keep up with the European club season through our Eredivisie fixtures and results guide.
Sources: USA Today, CNN, Sky Sports and Flashscore live coverage of the 2026 Ballon d'Or ceremony, London, 26 October 2026.