Harry Kane Wins Historic Ballon d'Or, Ending England's 25-Year Wait

Harry Kane kissed the Ballon d'Or trophy and raised it overhead on Monday, wearing a look of disbelief as the crowd at the London Palladium erupted. The England captain's win ended a 25-year wait for an English winner of football's most prestigious individual award.

Hundreds of England fans had queued outside the venue, while millions more followed the ceremony from across the country. For Kane, who is 33, it capped a career that was long defined by setbacks rather than stardom.

"Not many people would have thought it, and maybe even I wouldn't have thought I'd be this far," Kane told DAZN. He said he was never seen as the future superstar that some of today's players were, and that he had to bide his time. "A lot of times it was me against my own mind, and I had to come through it," he added.

The difficulties began early. Kane joined the Arsenal academy at eight but was released after one season, with then academy director Liam Brady labelling him "a bit chubby" and "not very athletic." Veteran manager Arsene Wenger, who led Arsenal for more than two decades, was baffled when he learned of the decision years later.

At Tottenham Hotspur's development programme by the age of 13, Kane was described by academy director John McDermott as the "runt of the litter." McDermott said in a 2016 interview with Goal that Kane was "30 percent down on the rest of the group." After reaching senior football in 2009, Kane went on loan to Leyton Orient, Millwall, Leicester City and Norwich City. Nearly two years separated his first Spurs goal, in 2011, and his next, in 2013, and even after his breakthrough 2014-15 season he was dubbed a "one-season wonder."

Over 14 senior seasons at Spurs, Kane won three Premier League Golden Boots and earned six PFA Premier League Team of the Year nominations. He also set a club record of 280 goals in more than 430 appearances. Yet he left without a major trophy, having lost the 2019 Champions League final with Spurs and two European Championship finals with England, and he was long considered the most famous player never to win silverware.

That changed at 31, when he won the 2024-25 Bundesliga title with Bayern Munich. He has since added four more club trophies, including a second German league title and the German Cup.

His numbers stand out. Kane is England's record scorer with 91 goals, the highest-scoring English player in the Champions League with 58, and the second-highest scorer in Premier League history with 213. Last month he became the fastest player to reach 100 Bundesliga goals, doing so in his 98th league appearance for Bayern. He has also developed into a gifted playmaker, telling UEFA.com that his passing range and game understanding have "flourished these last couple of years."

Last season he scored 73 goals for club and country, the most by a footballer since Lionel Messi's 82 in 2011-12. Unlike Kylian Mbappe and Lamine Yamal, who both won the World Cup as teenagers and dominated headlines before the ceremony, Kane ran no large publicity campaign and let his football speak for itself. By the morning after his win, he was posting repeatedly on social media about the honour.