Kane and Putellas take football’s top individual honours at 2026 Ballon d’Or ceremony

Harry Kane and Alexia Putellas have won the principal men’s and women’s prizes at the 2026 Ballon d’Or awards. Sky Sports, the Bundesliga and The Independent reported that Kane became the first English winner in 25 years, while Reuters Sport and the BBC confirmed Putellas’s third Women’s Ballon d’Or. Kane, the Bayern Munich striker and England captain, took the men’s award ahead of Lamine Yamal and Kylian Mbappé, according to The Independent Football.

The supplied reports do not provide the voting margin, the full ranking or the specific performances that secured Kane the prize. The award ends a quarter-century wait for an English winner in the men’s category. Kane’s recognition was highlighted by Sky Sports and the Bundesliga, both of which identified him as Bayern Munich’s recipient of the 2026 Ballon d’Or.

UEFA also listed Kane among the night’s winners. Putellas’s award marks a different kind of return. The Barcelona midfielder won the prize in 2021 and 2022, then suffered an anterior cruciate ligament tear while preparing for Spain’s Euro 2022 campaign.

Her recovery lasted nearly two years, and she later played a limited role in Spain’s World Cup victory. During that period, Spain teammate Aitana Bonmatí became the dominant figure in the women’s game, collecting the award three times from 2023 through 2025. Bonmatí was subsequently sidelined by a leg break, while Putellas returned to form and helped Barcelona win back the Champions League last season.

Putellas has since moved from Barcelona to London City Lionesses. Channels Television reported that the 32-year-old chose the English club because she wanted a new experience rather than attempting to reproduce her achievements in Catalonia. The club is owned by Michele Kang and is seeking to establish itself as England’s only fully independent top-flight team.

The midfielder’s influence has been felt immediately in the Women’s Super League. London City Lionesses are reported to be just behind Chelsea and Manchester City in the table and ahead of Arsenal. Putellas has said she wants to bring her former club’s winning mentality to an organisation that is still developing.

The available reports differ in focus: the men’s coverage centres on Kane’s historic English success, while the women’s reports emphasise Putellas’s injury recovery and move to London. Together, they establish the night’s headline results but provide no complete account of the remaining award categories.