Harry Kane has ended a 25-year wait for an English winner of football’s highest individual accolade.
The Bayern Munich striker, 33, was crowned the men’s Ballon d’Or winner at a glittering ceremony in London on Monday night.
“I love to represent my country and to bring this trophy back to them and have an English winner I think is something that’s really, really special, especially here in London,” Kane told the audience.
He produced a remarkable scoring haul of 73 goals in 65 matches for club and country across the past year, driving Bayern Munich to a league-and-cup double. For England he netted 12 times, six of them at the World Cup.
Kylian Mbappé of Real Madrid and France finished second, with Barcelona teenager Lamine Yamal of Spain completing the podium. Yamal also secured the young player of the year award for the third successive season.
Alexia Putellas claimed the women’s Ballon d’Or for a third time, reinforcing Spain’s recent stranglehold on the prize and completing her comeback after a career-threatening ligament injury four years ago. She succeeds team-mate Aitana Bonmatí, who had won the previous three awards before a broken leg ended her campaign.
Spain head coach Luis de la Fuente was named men’s coach of the year after masterminding the nation’s World Cup triumph, ahead of Paris Saint-Germain’s Luis Enrique and Arsenal’s Mikel Arteta. Barcelona’s Pere Romeu took the women’s coaching honour.
The Ballon d’Or has been awarded since 1956 by France Football, with voting conducted by journalists from the top 100 countries in the FIFA rankings.
In other news, Mbappé has been dropped by two leading Chinese brands after a video emerged in which he appeared to joke about Mao Zedong. Soft-drink maker Dongpeng declared a “zero-tolerance policy towards any behaviour that offends national sentiments,” while dairy giant Mengniu also severed ties with the France international.
