Luis Diaz was on hand to watch Harry Kane lift the Ballon d'Or, and the former Liverpool star couldn't hide his emotions as his Bayern Munich teammate's name was read out

Luis Diaz couldn’t hide his delight as Harry Kane was crowned the 2026 Ballon d’Or winner.

The England and Bayern Munich striker was crowned the world’s best player at a ceremony in London on Monday, becoming the fifth English player to win the prize after Stanley Matthews, Bobby Charlton and former Liverpool duo Kevin Keegan and Michael Owen.

Kane beat competition from Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe and Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal to land the biggest individual prize in soccer, with a sensational season for club and country seeing him score 73 goals in 65 games, with 61 of those coming in 51 matches for Bayern.

Diaz joined Kane at the ceremony in London, with the former Red also landing a spot in the top 30 as he finished 24th in the voting.

The Colombia international looked ecstatic when his teammate’s name was read out though, with cameras picking up his reaction the moment Kane was confirmed as the recipient of the Ballon d’Or.

Diaz himself enjoyed a superb season in what was his first year following his exit from Liverpool. Across all competitions for Bayern, the 29-year-old scored 26 goals and added 23 assists in 51 appearances.

No Liverpool players made the top 30, with just five current representatives of the Premier League making the final list, although Rodri did make the top four after leaving Manchester City during the summer.

There was another former Liverpool star though alongside Diaz in the rankings, with Sadio Mane finishing joint-29th with Arsenal’s William Saliba.

It proved to be a monumental night for Kane, who also took home the Gerd Muller Trophy as the highest-scoring player last season.

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"Not many people would have thought it, and maybe even I wouldn't have thought I'd be this far," Kane told DAZN after becoming the first English player to win the Ballon d’Or since Owen in 2001.

"I had to go through many ups and downs, especially early in my career. I was never the person that people thought was going to be the superstar like some of the guys now.

"I had to bide my time and work hard, a lot of times it was me against my own mind and I had to come through it, I had to show self-belief, determination.

"I think that grounded me even when I did make it at the highest level to keep improving and keep getting better."