Ballon d'Or 2026 Results: Harry Kane Wins, Putellas Claims Third Title

Harry Kane is a Ballon d'Or winner. The Bayern Munich and England striker took home soccer's biggest individual prize at the 70th Ballon d'Or ceremony, held Monday night at the London Palladium, in the first edition of the award held outside France.

The result capped a night that had already gone off-script.

The Pre-Ceremony Leak

Hours before the trophy was handed out, the official Ballon d'Or website briefly published pre-written articles crowning three different players — Kane, Lamine Yamal and Kylian Mbappé — before pulling them down. ESPN reported the site had mistakenly posted template pages for multiple contenders ahead of the actual result, and BBC Sport noted Kane "wasn't the only one" to see his name attached to a winner's headline that night.

The mix-up briefly overshadowed the real news: the pages had been drafted for whichever finalist ended up winning, and got published before anyone had actually won anything.

Kane's Night

Kane's win caps a remarkable individual run. He arrived at the ceremony as the bookmakers' favorite off a huge 2025-26 season with Bayern Munich, and he has kept scoring into the fall. It is the first Ballon d'Or of his career, after years of being discussed as one of the best strikers never to win it.

Yamal did not leave empty-handed. He took home the Kopa Trophy, awarded to the world's best player under 21, continuing his rapid rise as one of the sport's brightest young stars. Mbappé, despite being one of the names mistakenly leaked as a winner, did not win the main award. His presence at the ceremony was notable in its own right: ESPN reported that Real Madrid ended its Ballon d'Or boycott this year, with Mbappé leading the club's delegation to London.

Putellas Makes It Three

In the women's award, Alexia Putellas extended Spain's dominance of the category. The Barcelona and Spain midfielder, now playing for London City Lionesses, won the Ballon d'Or Féminin for a record-equalling third time, adding to her 2021 and 2022 titles. Putellas captained Barcelona to a quadruple this past season, including a third Champions League title in four years, a résumé that made her the heavy favorite heading into the night.

Her win continues a remarkable stretch for Spanish players in the women's category, which has gone to a Spaniard in each of the last several years.

Why the Ceremony Moved to London

This was the first Ballon d'Or held outside France since France Football created the award in 1956. Organizers picked London to honor Sir Stanley Matthews, the English winger who won the very first Ballon d'Or, a fitting touch on a night an Englishman finally won it again.

For more on the award and how voting works, see our Ballon d'Or 2026 preview. Follow the rest of the season in our soccer coverage.

Related reading: Champions League Matchday 3 recap and the Manchester United crisis.