Ballon d’Or Winners 1956 to 2026: Full List as Harry Kane Ends England’s 25-Year Wait

Harry Kane is the 2026 Ballon d’Or winner. The Bayern Munich striker was named the best men’s player in the world at the London Palladium on Monday night, October 26, and became the first Englishman to win the trophy since Michael Owen in 2001. He finished ahead of Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappé and Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal.

Kane’s name now sits at the bottom of the list of Ballon d’Or winners, which starts with Stanley Matthews in 1956 and reaches its 70th edition this year. Only 2020 is missing, because France Football cancelled that year’s award during the pandemic. Below is the full year-by-year list, the players with the most wins, the tally by country and club, and the story of how Kane won it.

How Harry Kane won the 2026 Ballon d’Or

Kane’s case rested on one of the biggest scoring seasons by a forward this century. He scored 73 goals in 65 games for Bayern and England in 2025-26, 61 of them in 51 games for the club. Thirty-six came in 31 Bundesliga matches, which made him the league’s top scorer for the third season running since he left Tottenham in 2023. Bayern won the Bundesliga and the DFB-Pokal, and Kane became the first Englishman to be named Germany’s player of the year.

He also scored 14 Champions League goals, one fewer than Mbappé, before Paris Saint-Germain knocked Bayern out in the semi-finals. At the World Cup, Kane scored six goals and set up another as captain. England reached the last four, lost to Argentina, then beat France 6-4 in the third-place match. Spain went on to win the tournament, beating Argentina 1-0 after extra time in the final.

The award has been a long time coming for a player who spent most of his career without a team trophy. Kane’s best finish before this year was 10th in 2024, and he slipped to 13th in 2025 even though he had just won his first major title with Bayern. The jury put him first this time. Reports from inside the Palladium say much of the room stood and chanted “Harry!” when the result was read out. “I am almost speechless,” Kane said on stage after two-time winner Ronaldo Nazário handed him the trophy.

Rank Player Club Country 1 Harry Kane Bayern Munich England 2 Kylian Mbappé Real Madrid France 3 Lamine Yamal Barcelona Spain 4 Rodri Barcelona (previously Manchester City) Spain 5 Lionel Messi Inter Miami Argentina 6 Khvicha Kvaratskhelia Paris Saint-Germain Georgia

Messi, now 39, finished fifth. Rodri, the 2024 winner, was fourth after moving to Barcelona.

Ballon d’Or winners: full list from 1956 to 2026

This is every men’s Ballon d’Or winner since France Football first handed out the award in 1956, with the club each player represented when he won. Alfredo Di Stéfano and Omar Sívori were born in Argentina; the table shows the country they played for at the time.

Winners from 1956 to 1979

Year Winner Country Club 1956 Stanley Matthews England Blackpool 1957 Alfredo Di Stéfano Spain Real Madrid 1958 Raymond Kopa France Real Madrid 1959 Alfredo Di Stéfano Spain Real Madrid 1960 Luis Suárez Spain Barcelona 1961 Omar Sívori Italy Juventus 1962 Josef Masopust Czechoslovakia Dukla Prague 1963 Lev Yashin Soviet Union Dynamo Moscow 1964 Denis Law Scotland Manchester United 1965 Eusébio Portugal Benfica 1966 Bobby Charlton England Manchester United 1967 Flórián Albert Hungary Ferencváros 1968 George Best Northern Ireland Manchester United 1969 Gianni Rivera Italy AC Milan 1970 Gerd Müller West Germany Bayern Munich 1971 Johan Cruyff Netherlands Ajax 1972 Franz Beckenbauer West Germany Bayern Munich 1973 Johan Cruyff Netherlands Barcelona 1974 Johan Cruyff Netherlands Barcelona 1975 Oleg Blokhin Soviet Union Dynamo Kyiv 1976 Franz Beckenbauer West Germany Bayern Munich 1977 Allan Simonsen Denmark Borussia Mönchengladbach 1978 Kevin Keegan England Hamburg 1979 Kevin Keegan England Hamburg

Winners from 1980 to 1999

Year Winner Country Club 1980 Karl-Heinz Rummenigge West Germany Bayern Munich 1981 Karl-Heinz Rummenigge West Germany Bayern Munich 1982 Paolo Rossi Italy Juventus 1983 Michel Platini France Juventus 1984 Michel Platini France Juventus 1985 Michel Platini France Juventus 1986 Igor Belanov Soviet Union Dynamo Kyiv 1987 Ruud Gullit Netherlands AC Milan 1988 Marco van Basten Netherlands AC Milan 1989 Marco van Basten Netherlands AC Milan 1990 Lothar Matthäus Germany Inter Milan 1991 Jean-Pierre Papin France Marseille 1992 Marco van Basten Netherlands AC Milan 1993 Roberto Baggio Italy Juventus 1994 Hristo Stoichkov Bulgaria Barcelona 1995 George Weah Liberia AC Milan 1996 Matthias Sammer Germany Borussia Dortmund 1997 Ronaldo Brazil Inter Milan 1998 Zinedine Zidane France Juventus 1999 Rivaldo Brazil Barcelona

Winners from 2000 to 2026

Year Winner Country Club 2000 Luís Figo Portugal Real Madrid 2001 Michael Owen England Liverpool 2002 Ronaldo Brazil Real Madrid 2003 Pavel Nedvěd Czech Republic Juventus 2004 Andriy Shevchenko Ukraine AC Milan 2005 Ronaldinho Brazil Barcelona 2006 Fabio Cannavaro Italy Real Madrid 2007 Kaká Brazil AC Milan 2008 Cristiano Ronaldo Portugal Manchester United 2009 Lionel Messi Argentina Barcelona 2010 Lionel Messi Argentina Barcelona 2011 Lionel Messi Argentina Barcelona 2012 Lionel Messi Argentina Barcelona 2013 Cristiano Ronaldo Portugal Real Madrid 2014 Cristiano Ronaldo Portugal Real Madrid 2015 Lionel Messi Argentina Barcelona 2016 Cristiano Ronaldo Portugal Real Madrid 2017 Cristiano Ronaldo Portugal Real Madrid 2018 Luka Modrić Croatia Real Madrid 2019 Lionel Messi Argentina Barcelona 2020 No award (cancelled because of the pandemic) n/a n/a 2021 Lionel Messi Argentina Barcelona / Paris Saint-Germain 2022 Karim Benzema France Real Madrid 2023 Lionel Messi Argentina Paris Saint-Germain / Inter Miami 2024 Rodri Spain Manchester City 2025 Ousmane Dembélé France Paris Saint-Germain 2026 Harry Kane England Bayern Munich

Who has won the most Ballon d’Or awards?

Lionel Messi, with eight. Cristiano Ronaldo is next with five, and no one else has more than three.

Player Wins Years Lionel Messi 8 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019, 2021, 2023 Cristiano Ronaldo 5 2008, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017 Johan Cruyff 3 1971, 1973, 1974 Michel Platini 3 1983, 1984, 1985 Marco van Basten 3 1988, 1989, 1992

Five players have won it twice: Alfredo Di Stéfano, Franz Beckenbauer, Kevin Keegan, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and Ronaldo Nazário. Messi’s four in a row from 2009 to 2012 is the longest streak, and between them Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo took 13 of the 15 awards handed out from 2008 to 2023. Luka Modrić in 2018 and Karim Benzema in 2022 were the only players to break in. Seven men have won in consecutive years: Cruyff, Keegan, Rummenigge, Platini, van Basten, Messi and Ronaldo.

Ballon d’Or winners by country and club

Argentina leads the country table with eight wins, all of them Messi’s. France, Germany, the Netherlands and Portugal have seven each. Kane’s win lifts England to six.

Country Wins Different winners Argentina 8 1 France 7 5 Germany 7 5 Netherlands 7 3 Portugal 7 3 England 6 5 Italy 5 5 Brazil 5 4

Among clubs, Real Madrid and Barcelona are level on 12 wins each. Bayern Munich now has six, shared between four players: Gerd Müller, Franz Beckenbauer, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and Kane.

What Kane’s win changes in the record books

Kane is the fifth Englishman to win the award, and the first since Michael Owen in 2001. Including Scotland’s Denis Law, he is the sixth British winner.

Year English winner Club 1956 Stanley Matthews Blackpool 1966 Bobby Charlton Manchester United 1978 Kevin Keegan Hamburg 1979 Kevin Keegan Hamburg 2001 Michael Owen Liverpool 2026 Harry Kane Bayern Munich

The timing is neat. The ceremony was held in London for the first time to mark 70 years since Matthews won the very first Ballon d’Or.

Bayern have not had a winner in 45 years, since Rummenigge in 1981, and Kane is the club’s first foreign winner. He is also the first Bundesliga player to win since Matthias Sammer of Borussia Dortmund in 1996.

At 33, Kane is one of the oldest winners. Only Matthews (41), Messi (36 in 2023), Benzema (34 in 2022), Lev Yashin (34 in 1963) and Di Stéfano (33 in 1959) were older or the same age when they won. Ronaldo Nazário remains the youngest, at 21 in 1997.

For African readers, the list still holds a single winner who played for an African nation: George Weah of Liberia in 1995. In this year’s ranking, Morocco’s Achraf Hakimi finished 13th and Senegal’s Sadio Mané tied for 29th.

Other 2026 Ballon d’Or award winners

Spain’s World Cup winners took most of the other prizes in London, and Alexia Putellas won the women’s Ballon d’Or for the third time, after 2021 and 2022. Barcelona’s Ewa Pajor finished second and Manchester City’s Khadija Shaw third.

Award Winner Men’s Ballon d’Or Harry Kane (Bayern Munich, England) Women’s Ballon d’Or Alexia Putellas (Barcelona, Spain) Gerd Müller Trophy (men’s best striker) Harry Kane Kopa Trophy (men’s young player) Lamine Yamal (Barcelona), third year running Women’s young player Vicky López (Barcelona) Yashin Trophy (men’s goalkeeper) Unai Simón (Athletic Club, Spain) Men’s coach of the year Luis de la Fuente (Spain) Women’s coach of the year Pere Romeu (Barcelona)

How the Ballon d’Or winner is chosen

The men’s winner is picked by journalists, one from each of the top 100 countries in FIFA’s men’s rankings. Fans, players and coaches have no vote. Each juror ranks 10 players from a 30-man shortlist, which was unveiled on September 8. A first-place vote is worth 15 points, then 12, 10, 8, 7, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 down to tenth. The player with the most points wins, and ties go to whoever has more first-place votes.

Jurors had until September 28 to vote. They weigh individual performance first, then team achievements, then class and fair play. The 2026 award covered August 3, 2025 to July 19, 2026, which took in the World Cup. France Football still runs the vote, and UEFA has co-organised the award with its parent company since 2024.

Ballon d’Or winners: frequently asked questions

Who won the 2026 Ballon d’Or?

Harry Kane of Bayern Munich and England won the men’s award, ahead of Kylian Mbappé and Lamine Yamal. Alexia Putellas won the women’s Ballon d’Or.

Who has won the most Ballon d’Or awards?

Lionel Messi, with eight wins. Cristiano Ronaldo has five.

Who won the first Ballon d’Or?

Stanley Matthews of Blackpool won the inaugural award in 1956, at the age of 41.

Who won the 2025 Ballon d’Or?

Ousmane Dembélé of Paris Saint-Germain won the men’s award at the ceremony in Paris on September 22, 2025. Aitana Bonmatí won the women’s award for the third time.

Was there a Ballon d’Or in 2020?

No. France Football cancelled the 2020 award because of the pandemic.

Where was the 2026 Ballon d’Or ceremony held?

At the London Palladium on October 26, 2026. It was the first time the ceremony took place in London, and the 70th edition of the award. Thierry Henry and Kate Scott hosted.

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