Harry Kane admitted winning the Ballon d'Or was an achievement beyond his wildest dreams, after edging out Kylian Mbappe and Lamine Yamal to be crowned the world's best player.

The Bayern Munich and England striker claimed football's most prestigious individual prize at a star-studded award ceremony in London on Monday, becoming the fifth English player to do so and the first in 25 years.

Stanley Matthews (1956), Bobby Charlton (1966), Kevin Keegan (1978 and 1979) and Michael Owen (2001) had previously claimed the trophy.

Kane's award came after a year in which he helped Bayern Munich retain their Bundesliga crown and captained England to a third-place finish at the World Cup – their best-ever on foreign soil.

He plundered a remarkable 73 goals for club and country in 2025-26, with the only other instance of a player from Europe's top five leagues scoring 70+ goals in a single campaign coming in 2011-12, when Lionel Messi netted 82 en route to one of his eight Ballon d'Or triumphs.

Speaking on stage after receiving the prize, Kane said: "I am almost speechless. Being here in London has made it extra special – that made it a good omen for me. 

"Thank you to everyone who voted for me. I can imagine it was tough this year. There are some world-class players in the room tonight."

Kane's triumph capped a remarkable rise to the top of the game, for a player who had loan spells at Leyton Orient, Millwall, Norwich City and Leicester City in the early stages of his career. 

And Kane, who netted 280 times for Tottenham before joining Bayern in 2023 and finally halting his personal trophy drought by winning two Bundesliga crowns, one DFB-Pokal and two DFL Supercups, admits he could never have foreseen his triumph.

"Not many people would have thought it, and maybe even myself, I wouldn't have thought I'd get this far," Kane said.

2 – Only two players from Europe’s top-five leagues have reached 70+ goals across club and country in a single season this century: Lionel Messi in 2011/12 (82 goals) Harry Kane in 2025/26 (73 goals) Virtuosos. https://t.co/qO1gI0HIaM

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) October 26, 2026

"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.

"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.

"No matter what I achieve, how many goals I score, winning the Ballon d'Or, it's always about getting better. This is a showcase of that."

Mbappe finished as the runner-up after becoming the World Cup's all-time leading scorer earlier this year, with Spain duo Yamal and Rodri placing third and fourth while Messi rounded out the top five.