Harry Kane received the 2026 Ballon d’Or award at a ceremony at the London Palladium Theatre on Monday night. Kane finished ahead of Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe and Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal in the rankings.

Chelsea must regret not signing Kane when he was linked with a move across London before joining Bayern Munich. The England captain has gone from strength to strength in Germany and is now recognised as an all-time great.

Chelsea boss Xabi Alonso was asked about the Ballon d’Or results at his press conference ahead of the Blues’ EFL Cup match against Liverpool. His answer offered an insight into whether he thought Kane, Mbappe or Yamal deserved the trophy.

Xabi Alonso gives his verdict on Harry Kane’s Ballon d’Or success

Harry Kane was already a world-class striker at Tottenham, but he has reached another level since joining Bayern Munich. Kane scored 73 goals in 65 matches for club and country last season, helping Bayern win the Bundesliga and leading England to third place at the World Cup.

Kylian Mbappe also had a phenomenal year with Real Madrid, scoring 25 goals in La Liga and 15 in the Champions League. With 22 goals, he also became the leading goalscorer in World Cup history, having scored 10 for France this summer as they finished fourth.

Meanwhile, 19-year-old Lamine Yamal was Barcelona’s best player during their title-winning campaign, scoring 16 goals and providing 11 assists. He helped Spain win the World Cup but was not at his best after returning from a hamstring injury.

Xabi Alonso, who coached against Kane as Bayer Leverkusen manager during the 2023/24 season, appeared happy for the Bayern forward. His comments suggested he would have voted for him ahead of Mbappe and Yamal.

“First of all, congratulations to Harry,” Alonso said at Cobham on Tuesday afternoon. “For sure, he’s a player that is different class… all of them were but Harry deserves it.

“Especially in the last [few] years, he got better and better. He’s having a great impact in Germany and the [England] national team as well. Fair enough and congratulations to him.”

Alonso will hope that one of his Chelsea players will win the Ballon d’Or in the next few seasons. Cole Palmer and Joao Pedro seem the most likely candidates, especially if they achieve international success.