Kane leads Ballon d'Or 2026 contenders as first English favourite since Owen

Harry Kane heads into the 2026 Ballon d’Or ceremony in London on Monday, 26 October as the favourite to claim the men’s award, with the Bayern Munich striker bidding to become the first English player to win the prize since Michael Owen in 2001. The event gets underway at 8pm GMT, with a women’s winner also set to be announced on the night.

Kane, 33, has built his case on an extraordinary volume of goals and assists for Bayern Munich, though he arrives without a continental trophy to his name — a factor that has fuelled debate around his candidacy. Should he win, it would represent the defining individual honour of a career already marked by record-breaking goalscoring at club and international level.

Lamine Yamal of Barcelona and Spain is considered the closest challenger, while Kylian Mbappe of Real Madrid and France strengthened his case at the World Cup by breaking the tournament’s all-time goalscoring record with 10 goals. Rodri, the 2024 Ballon d’Or winner, also featured prominently after captaining Spain to World Cup glory and claiming the Golden Ball at the tournament.

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who has since suffered a season-ending knee injury, missed the World Cup entirely but was widely regarded as the standout performer in the Champions League last season, inspiring Paris Saint-Germain to back-to-back titles.

The full 25-man men’s shortlist includes Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), Pau Cubarsi (Barcelona), Marc Cucurella (Chelsea/Real Madrid), Ousmane Dembele (PSG), Luis Diaz (Bayern Munich), Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United), Gabriel Magalhaes (Arsenal), Erling Haaland (Manchester City), Achraf Hakimi (PSG), Sadio Mane (Al Nassr), Marquinhos (PSG), Lautaro Martinez (Inter Milan), Nuno Mendes (PSG), Lionel Messi (Inter Miami), Joao Neves (PSG), Michael Olise (Bayern Munich), Willian Pacho (PSG), Julian Quinones (Al Qadsiah), Declan Rice (Arsenal), and Fabian Ruiz (Barcelona/PSG), alongside Kane, Yamal, Mbappe, Rodri and Kvaratskhelia.