Kane targets Ballon d'Or alongside World Cup glory after 61-goal Bayern season

Harry Kane has declared that lifting the World Cup with England would place him among the favourites for the Ballon d’Or, speaking to L’Equipe ahead of joining Thomas Tuchel’s squad at their pre-tournament warm-up camp in Florida. The England captain arrives off the back of a remarkable 2025-26 season at Bayern Munich, in which he scored 61 goals across all competitions — including a hat-trick in the DFB-Pokal final — as Vincent Kompany’s side secured the domestic double.

“The Ballon d’Or if we win the World Cup? I would certainly be among the favourites,” Kane said. “Considering the trophies I’ve won this season and the number of goals I’ve scored, I would be in the running. Especially since, if England win the World Cup, we could imagine the trophy going to an English player.”

Kane was measured when assessing the wider field of candidates. “When you look at who the current favourites are to win the Ballon d’Or, there is Michael [Olise], players who were Champions League finalists and me,” he said. “But at the same time, I’m not the kind of person who claims to deserve a Ballon d’Or. I try to let my performances on the pitch speak for themselves.”

England’s campaign under Tuchel represents a fresh attempt to end a wait for major tournament success stretching back to 1966. Kane, who worked with Tuchel at Bayern before the German took the England job, spoke warmly of the coach’s methods. “At Bayern, I loved his personality, his ideas for the team, and the way he got me playing. In a way, he brought those methods to the national team,” Kane said.

The 26-man squad is largely assembled, and Kane was candid about the scale of ambition. “The ambition is to win it, obviously — that has to be our goal,” he said, pointing to a run of near-misses that included back-to-back European Championship finals in 2021 and 2024, a 2018 World Cup semi-final, and a quarter-final exit at the 2022 edition in Qatar.

“We know it will be difficult, but we have been close in recent years,” Kane added. “This year, we will have a new coach, new players. It is exciting — even if this kind of competition generates a lot of pressure.”