Harry Kane Wins First Ballon d'Or, Putellas Takes Third Title

Harry Kane won the Ballon d'Or for the first time on Monday night in London, becoming the first English player to take the men's award since Michael Owen in 2001. Alexia Putellas won the women's Ballon d'Or for the third time, and Spain collected eight of the 13 awards given at the ceremony.

Reuters reported that Kane scored 61 goals in 51 games for Bayern Munich across all competitions, as the German club completed a domestic league and cup double. He also led England to the World Cup semi-finals, scoring six goals in the tournament. USA Today reported that Kane scored 36 goals in 31 Bundesliga matches and 14 goals in 13 Champions League matches.

Kane beat Kylian Mbappe of France and Lamine Yamal of Spain to the prize. The award is voted on by journalists from the top 100 countries in the FIFA rankings, and it was presented at the London Palladium in the 70th edition of the award.

The full list of winners

Kane also won the Gerd Muller Trophy as the men's striker of the year. Putellas took the women's main award, and the rest of the night underlined how strong Spain and Barcelona were across the ballot.

The other winners were Lamine Yamal and Vicky Lopez for the men's and women's Kopa Trophies, Unai Simon and Cata Coll for the men's and women's Yashin Trophies, Spain coach Luis de la Fuente and Barcelona coach Pere Romeu for the Cruyff Trophies, and Charlyn Corral of Pachuca for the women's Gerd Muller Trophy. Paris Saint-Germain was named men's club of the year and Barcelona women's club of the year. Bukayo Saka of Arsenal won the Socrates Award.

Why it matters

Kane, who is 33, left Tottenham Hotspur in 2023 without a team trophy after more than 300 matches for the London club. He now holds two Bundesliga titles, the German cup and the biggest individual prize in the sport. The win also ends a long run in which English players watched the award go elsewhere. Before Kane, the English winners were Stanley Matthews, Bobby Charlton, Kevin Keegan and Michael Owen.

For Putellas, a third women's title puts her back on top four years after her last win. She did it in a year when Spanish players, coaches and clubs took most of the major honours on the list.

What happens next

Both winners return to club football this week. Kane goes back to a Bayern side that leads the Bundesliga, and the full voting breakdown, including the points margin between Kane and Mbappe, is expected from France Football in the coming days.