At 33, Harry Kane shows no signs of slowing down.

After a successful season for club and country, the Englishman was awarded the Ballon d’Or, football’s most coveted individual prize, on Oct 26 at a ceremony in London.

The Bayern Munich forward produced the most prolific campaign of his life, scoring 61 goals in 51 games for the German giants across all competitions as they completed a domestic league and cup double.

Never one to rest on his laurels, the former Tottenham Hotspur captain remained in top form for the national team, leading the Three Lions to the World Cup semi-finals in their best performance at the quadriennial tournament since their 1966 triumph.

Here are a few things to know about Kane and his latest piece of silverware.

1. Kane’s rocky start

He started his youth football career at local club Ridgeway Rovers in London, and then the Arsenal youth academy when he was eight.

But he was released from the Gunners as he was thought to be “chubby” and “not very athletic”, The Telegraph reported in 2018.

He then joined Tottenham when he was 11, and was initially sent out on loan for several seasons after signing professional terms, to clubs including Leicester and Norwich City.

He eventually became one of their best players and the club’s all-time leading goalscorer and racked up many individual milestones in North London, but did not win major trophies with Tottenham.

Kane signed for Bayern Munich in 2023, becoming the most expensive signing in Bundesliga history. In his debut season, he scored 36 league goals, winning the European Golden Shoe.

His first major trophy came in his second season with Bayern, when they won the 2024–25 Bundesliga title.

2. Long-awaited English winner

Kane is the first Englishman to win the prestigious Ballon d’Or in 25 years, after former Manchester United and Liverpool striker Michael Owen won it in 2001.

Other England players who have won are Kevin Keegan (1978, 1979), Bobby Charlton (1966) and Stanley Matthews, who won the inaugural award in 1956.

Argentina and France are tied on eight for the most number of Ballon d’Ors, but France has produced more winners than any other country with six different players having won the award.

All eight of Argentina’s trophies were won by Lionel Messi, who also holds the record for winning the most times. Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo is next, having won five times.

3. Ballon d’Or initially only for Europeans

The Ballon d’Or, “golden ball” in French, is an annual award presented by French magazine France Football.

It was initially awarded to players from Europe only, but was expanded to all active players at European clubs in 1995, when Liberia’s George Weah became the first non-European to win it. It later became a global prize in 2007.

The award was cancelled in 2020 because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Ballon d’Or Feminin for the best women’s player was introduced in 2018.

4. How winners are decided

Voting for the best footballers is done by international panel of journalists, with one representative per country from the top 100 nations according to the FIFA rankings for the men’s award, and the top 50 for the women’s award, according to the Ballon d’Or website.

Each voter selects 10 players in descending order of merit from a 30-player shortlist.

For the 2026 award, the list was compiled by the editorial staff of France Football, members of L’Equipe’s editorial team, at least one member of the previous edition’s jury, and UEFA ambassadors Luis Figo and Fabio Capello for the men’s trophy, and Nadine Kessler for the women’s trophy.

The players receive points according to where they are ranked by each judge and the player with the highest overall score is awarded the Ballon d’Or.

5. Notable statistics

Matthews, the award’s first recipient, was 41 years old when he received his prize, the oldest player to have won the award. He is followed by Messi, who was 36 when he won his eighth Ballon d’Or in 2023.

Forwards have historically dominated the award, but Russian Lev Yashin (1963) is the only goalkeeper to have won the award, while three defenders have come out tops: Franz Beckenbauer (1972, 1976), Matthias Sammer (1996) and Fabio Cannavaro (2006).

6. NFL for Kane next?

Known to be a huge fan of the National Football League (NFL) in the United States, Kane has expressed interest in pursuing a career in American football in the past.

He said earlier in 2026 that he is considering a future as an NFL kicker later in his career.

But for now, the newly crowned Ballon d’Or winner’s focus remains in Germany for now, with Sky Sports reporting he has agreed to a new contract in principle that will see him stay with Bayern until 2029.