Ballon d’Or 2026 winner: Harry Kane makes history with Gerd Müller Trophy double

England and Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane created history in London on Monday as he became the first player to win both the men’s Ballon d’Or award and the Gerd Müller Trophy at the same awards ceremony.

Kane won the Ballon d’Or award on the back of an excellent 2025-26 season, in which he scored 61 goals from 51 matches for Bayern Munich and also helped England reach the FIFA World Cup 2026 semifinals, where they lost to Argentina. He scored 12 goals for England in the 2025-26 season, which added up to 73 goals in total.

“Being in London, it is extra special; it felt like a good omen,” Kane said at the ceremony in London on Monday. “Thank you to everyone who voted for me. I can imagine it was tough, so thank you,” he added.

Harry Kane’s prolific 2025-26 season

Harry Kane’s performances helped Bayern secure the Bundesliga title and DFB-Pokal, completing a domestic double under manager Vincent Kompany. Kane additionally won the Franz Beckenbauer Supercup with the Bavarian club.

He scored six goals during England’s FIFA World Cup 2026 campaign. The Gerd Muller Trophy is given to the highest-scoring men’s and women’s football players in the preceding season.

The Gerd Muller Trophy, introduced in 2021, has previously been won by Robert Lewandowski, Erling Haaland and Viktor Gyökeres, among others. No player had previously won both the men’s Ballon d’Or and the Gerd Muller Trophy in the same year.

The Gerd Muller Trophy was not a new addition to Kane’s collection. He had previously shared the award with France international Kylian Mbappe in 2024, after both players finished with 52 goals.

Kane’s victory came after he had never finished higher than 10th in previous Ballon d’Or nominations. On Monday, he finished ahead of Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe and Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal, who finished second and third, respectively, in the final rankings.

In the ongoing 2026-27 season, the 33-year-old has so far scored 10 goals in 12 matches for Bayern Munich and has seven assists.