Harry Kane gives the surprise and wins the Golden Ball

BarcelonaNeither Lamine Yamal, nor Kylian Mbappé. 25 years after the last time, an Englishman reigns in world football. Bayern striker Harry Kane has won the Ballon d'Or with the most uncertain forecast in years, and has managed to emulate Michael Owen's feat in 2001. A prize that he received precisely in London, his hometown and the one where for so many years he scored goals with Tottenham until, tired of not winning titles, he left for Bayern. At 33 years old, Kane received the award at the gala held at the London Palladium in London, finishing ahead of Kylian Mbappé, second, and ahead of Lamine Yamal, third. The blue and garnet player Rodri finished fourth and Lionel Messi, fifth. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia finished sixth, Dembélé in seventh position, Haaland in eighth, Olise in ninth and Fabián Ruiz in tenth.

Lamine Yamal finishes for the second consecutive year on the podium, but he will have to wait one more year to be chosen as the best footballer of the year, an award that for the third consecutive year is won by a footballer who had not achieved it before. If in 2024 it was Rodri and in 2025 Ousmane Dembélé, now it has been Kane's turn. The gala, presented by former player Thierry Henry and journalist Kate Scott, also crowns Alexia Putellas as the best female player of the year.

Lamine Yamal did indeed win the Kopa Trophy for the best player under 21 years old, for the third consecutive year, a milestone never before achieved. The Maresme native stated in his speech that Pau Cubarsí "deserved this award." It was a chaotic gala, as it started 45 minutes late due to traffic jams in London. And it was marked by a mistake by the organizers, who mistakenly published the names of the three finalists a few hours earlier. Mbappé, by the way, has not won any title and at 27 years old still has not won the Ballon d'Or.

The award created by the French magazine France Football, in which correspondents from this media outlet vote, celebrated its 70th edition, which is why it moved to London to pay tribute to the first winner of the trophy, the Englishman Stanley Matthews, who was playing for Blackpool at the time. An award in London to remember a Briton, where a Briton has won. Everything tied up nicely. The award was created in 1956 and the gala was usually held in Paris, although between 2010 and 2015 the ceremony moved to Zurich (Switzerland), as during that period the Ballon d'Or merged with the FIFA World Player, the award given by FIFA. Kane started playing for Tottenham, but was loaned to modest teams such as Leyton Orient, Millwall, Leicester or Norwich, before returning to the Spurs, when he began to make a name for himself. He has won the Golden Shoe for top European goalscorer twice, but it wasn't until he went to Bayern that he won major titles such as two German leagues. Kane has also won the award for best striker of the year.

De la Fuente, awarded

Barça had three players nominated for the men's Ballon d'Or: Lamine Yamal, Rodri—who won it in 2024—and Pau Cubarsí, who did not fly to London because he finished the match against Madrid with a slight fever. Cubarsí finished in twelfth position; current PSG player Ferran Torres was 16th, just ahead of Vinícius, and Cucurella was eighteenth. At the gala, the Spanish national team coach Luis de la Fuente was chosen as the best coach of the year. It was not a surprise, nor was the triumph of the Basque Unai Simón as best goalkeeper. PSG took home the award for the best club of the year and Arsenal player Bukayo Saka the Socrates award for solidarity work, in this case for a project with young people in Nigeria.

It was an edition without a clear favorite and in the end, Kane touched the sky, even though he did not win either the World Cup or the Champions League the previous season. But he did lead the English to third place in the World Cup and scored more goals than anyone else, as he scored 73 in 65 official matches between Bayern and the national team. The award recognizes the long career of one of the best European strikers of the last 15 years, always in the shadow of Messi or Cristiano.