2026 Ballon d’Or: Kane ends England’s drought, Putellas

The 2026 Ballon d’Or ceremony took place Monday at the London Palladium theatre, with Harry Kane and Alexia Putellas taking home the top honors. View all the winners of soccer’s most prestigious individual accolades below.

Jump to: Women’s Ballon d’Or | Best Striker | Top Club | Socrates Award | Young Player | Top Coach | Best Goalkeeper

Men’s Ballon d’Or

Winner: Harry Kane 🏆

The drought is finally over for England.

Kane beat out Lamine Yamal and Kylian Mbappe in one of the closest Ballon d’Or races in recent years.

Kane didn’t win the Champions League (or the World Cup) during his magnificent 2025-26 campaign, but the England captain led the Three Lions to a third-place finish in North America in the summer while posting jaw-dropping numbers at club level, too.

The former Tottenham striker scored 73 goals in 65 matches across all competitions last season for club and country, with 61 of those tallies coming for German champions Bayern Munich … in only 51 games.

Kane is the first Englishman to claim the honor since Michael Owen in 2001.

Kane is just the fifth Three Lions player to hoist the top individual award in men’s soccer, joining Owen, Stanley Matthews, Kevin Keegan – who won it twice – and Bobby Charlton.

The prolific 33-year-old is also the fourth-oldest first-time winner of the award.

“It’s just the journey. For any young boy or girl who wants to achieve their dream, anything is possible,” Kane said onstage after accepting his award from Brazilian great Ronaldo.

“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. I hope that can give you inspiration, and thank you very much.”

The most wide-open Ballon d’Or race in years coalesced around three main candidates in the buildup to the big day: Kane, Mbappe, and Yamal. Perhaps the writing was on the wall, though, as this year’s ceremony took place in London – moving from its usual placement in France – to celebrate Matthews winning the inaugural Ballon d’Or in 1956.

Here are the final rankings for the 30 men’s nominees:

Winner: Alexia Putellas 🏆

Putellas won the Ballon d’Or Feminin for the third time in her decorated career, joining her compatriot and former Barcelona teammate Aitana Bonmati as the only players ever to accomplish the feat. Putellas previously won the prestigious individual award in 2021 and ’22.

Putellas, who signed with London City Lionesses in July, stepped up after Bonmati’s broken leg and led Barcelona to a historic quadruple last season, including a fourth Champions League title. She recorded 26 goals and 15 assists in 53 matches during the 2025-26 season.

The award completed Putellas’ inspirational comeback from a torn ACL suffered in 2022.

“All the boys and girls around the world – if you love football and if you want to play football, play football,” Putellas said during her acceptance speech. “It doesn’t matter if you’re a boy or if you’re a girl. It doesn’t matter where you come from.

“Don’t listen if someone tells you, you can’t do it. Believe in yourself.”

Spanish players have now won the Ballon d’Or Feminin in six consecutive years. The last non-Spanish woman to claim the award was former USWNT star Megan Rapinoe in 2019.

Men’s winner: Harry Kane 🏆
Women’s winner: Charlyn Corral 🏆

The Gerd Muller Trophy is the lone award of the evening that doesn’t require any voting, and is based solely on scoring statistics.

Kane racked up an unbelievable 73 goals for club and country in 2025-26, including 61 in just 51 matches for Bayern Munich. It was a sign of things to come on the night, as he also went on to claim the men’s Ballon d’Or to rapturous applause from the crowd in London.

Meanwhile, Corral has continued to find the net with stunning regularity for Pachuca. The Mexican striker scored 22 regular-season goals in the Apertura 2025, breaking her own Liga MX Femenil record, and recorded 13 tallies for her national team.

In total, the 35-year-old forward scored 49 goals in as many matches across all competitions.

Men’s winner: PSG 🏆
Women’s winner: Barcelona 🏆

No surprises here.

PSG took home the award for the best men’s club of 2026 after defending their Champions League title in dramatic fashion, giving the French outfit consecutive triumphs in this category. French star Ousmane Dembele, last year’s Ballon d’Or winner, accepted the trophy on behalf of his team.

Meanwhile, after a brief interlude, Barcelona are back on top of the women’s game. The Catalan side was named the best women’s team of the year after capturing a quadruple of trophies, including the Women’s Champions League. Barca have now captured this honor on the women’s side in three of the last four years, with only Arsenal’s triumph in 2025 breaking their streak.

Winner: Bukayo Saka 🏆

The Socrates Award is named after the legendary Brazilian midfielder and recognizes the humanitarian work of players or groups within the sport. It was introduced in 2022.

Saka also put on a show off the field last season. The Arsenal winger was honored Monday for his work with multiple charities that provided medical care and humanitarian aid for children and families in need in London and around the world.

Men’s winner: Unai Simon 🏆
Women’s winner: Cata Coll 🏆

Spain dominates yet another category.

Simon was named the men’s Goalkeeper of the Year after starting for Spain at the 2026 World Cup. The Athletic Club veteran helped La Roja build a near-perfect defensive system in North America, notably making an impact with the ball at his feet, too.

Barcelona ‘keeper Coll dethroned 2024-25 winner Hannah Hampton to win the women’s Goalkeeper of the Year honors this year. She was a key figure in Barca’s trophy-laden 2025-26 campaign.

Men’s winner: Luis de la Fuente 🏆
Women’s winner: Pere Romeu 🏆

De la Fuente was named Coach of the Year after building a spectacular Spain team that won the 2026 World Cup in dominant fashion. La Roja’s methodical and balanced team went unbeaten in North America in the summer, winning seven of their eight games while allowing just one goal.

Mikel Arteta and Luis Enrique were arguably De la Fuente’s biggest threats for the men’s Coach of the Year award. Arteta helped Arsenal end their Premier League title drought, while Luis Enrique led Paris Saint-Germain to a second Champions League title. However, De la Fuente’s impeccable season in international soccer spoke louder. Unai Emery (Aston Villa) and Vincent Kompany (Bayern Munich) were also nominated.

On the women’s side, Romeu was recognized as the game’s best tactician after helping Barcelona win four trophies during the 2025-26 season, including the Champions League. He beat out Jonatan Giraldez (OL Lyonnes), Andree Jeglertz (Manchester City), Nils Nielsen (Japan), and Elena Sadiku (Celtic and BK Hacken). Sadiku was the lone female coach among the five nominees; the award recognizes the best coach in women’s football, and not necessarily the best female coach.

Men’s winner: Lamine Yamal 🏆
Women’s winner: Vicky Lopez 🏆

It’s a sweep for Barcelona and Spain. Again.

Yamal, 19, was a strong candidate to become the first teenager to win the Ballon d’Or, so it only made sense for him to take the Kopa Trophy as the world’s best soccer player under 21 years of age again. Yamal has won this award in the last three seasons. He continues to dominate at Barcelona and was also part of Spain’s World Cup-winning run.

Yamal beat out several young stars for the 2026 Young Talent of the Year award, including Barcelona and Spain teammate Pau Cubarsi. The stud center-back put on a show as a cornerstone of a stellar La Roja defense that allowed only one goal in eight World Cup matches in the summer.

Vicky Lopez also defended her title, winning the women’s Kopa Trophy for a second straight year. The 20-year-old attacker stood out while helping Barcelona achieve a historic quadruple in 2025-26.

Ceremony underway

Originally scheduled for 4 p.m. ET, the Ballon d’Or ceremony was delayed by 30 minutes, reportedly due to heavy traffic in London.

Possible leak?

Organizers appeared to leak the potential result Monday ahead of the ceremony, with “winner” articles being prematurely published on the Ballon d’Or website – and swiftly removed – for each of Kane, Mbappe, and Yamal.

One for the conspiracy theorists to have fun with, especially in the wake of Kane’s eventual triumph.

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