Harry Kane is elected world's best; see the winners of the Ballon d'Or 2026
Harry Kane and Alexia Putellas are elected world's best. See all winners and positions of Brazilian players
English striker Harry Kane was voted the best player in the world at the 2026 Ballon d'Or ceremony held on Monday in London, England. The Bayern Munich player won the award for the first time in his career, after a season marked by impressive numbers. In women's football, Spain's Alexia Putellas returned to the top and received the trophy for the third time.
The awards, organized by the French magazine France Football in partnership with UEFA and the newspaper L'Équipe, brought together the main highlights of international football. In addition to the best players, goalkeepers, coaches, young talents, top scorers and clubs that excelled in the 2025/2026 season were recognized.
Kane overcame Frenchman Kylian Mbappé of Real Madrid and Spanishman Lamine Yamal of Barcelona, who finished in second and third place respectively. The attacker received the trophy from the hands of Brazilian Ronaldo Fenômeno, two-time world champion for Seleção Brasileira.
Harry Kane scores 73 goals and ends 25-year-old fast
The conquest of Kane ended a 25-year wait for English football. The last player in the country to win the Ballon d'Or was Michael Owen in 2001, when he was defending Liverpool.
At the age of 33, the forward experienced one of the most productive seasons of his career. Considering the commitments for Bayern Munich and the English national team, Kane scored 73 goals in 65 games.
For Bayern alone, there were 61 goals in 51 games, a performance that helped the team to win the Campeonato Alemão and the German Cup.
In the Bundesliga, the striker finished as a top scorer for the third consecutive season, with 36 goals in 31 games. In the European Champions League, he scored 14 goals in 13 matches, being one of the protagonists of the campaign that led the German club to the semi-finals.
In addition to the Ballon d'Or, Kane also received the Gerd Müller Trophy, destined for the season's top scorer.
Alexia Putellas wins third Golden Ball of the career
In women's football, Spain's Alexia Putellas confirmed her international prominence by winning the third Ballon d'Or, repeating the triumphs of 2021 and 2022.
The 32-year-old was instrumental in Barcelona's winning campaign, which won four competitions in the season, including the European Champions League.
In addition to the titles for the Catalan club, Alexia also participated in the conquest of the UEFA Nations League by seleção espanhola.
In the contest for the prize, she overcame Ewa Pajor of Barcelona and Khadija Shaw of Manchester City of Jamaica. After the season, the player left Barcelona to defend London City Lionesses from England.
Vini Jr. is only in 17th and Brazilians pass away from the podium
Brazil was unable to place any representative among the top ten players in the men’s category.
Vinicius Júnior, of Real Madrid, was the Brazilian best placed, finishing 17th.
The other two representatives of the country were the defenders Gabriel Magellan of Arsenal, who finished in 21st, and Marquinhos of Paris Saint-Germain, who appeared in 25th position.
Among women, goalkeeper Lorena of seleção brasileira and Kansas City Current finished in 28th place. She also contested the award for best goalkeeper in the world, but the trophy went to Cata Coll of Barcelona.
All the winners of the 2026 Golden Ball
The ceremony also awarded prominent names in other categories of world football.
Category
Winner
Ballon d'Or
Harry Kane
Ballon d'Or
Alexia Putellas
Best Young Player
Lamine Yamal
Best Young Player
Vicky Lopez
Best goalkeeper
Unai Simon
Best goalkeeper
Cata Coll
Best Men's Coach
Luis de la Fuente
Best Female Coach
Pere Romeu
Category: Men's gunners
Harry Kane
Women's Top Gunner
Charlyn Corral
Best Men's Club
Paris Saint-Germain
Best Women's Club
Barcelona
Socrates Trophy
Bukayo Saka
The Spaniard Lamine Yamal, even without winning the main men's trophy, received the Kopa award, destined for the best player under 21. In the women's category, the winner was Vicky López, also from Barcelona.
Among the coaches, Luis de la Fuente, commander of seleção espanhola, took the men’s prize, while Pere Romeu of Barcelona won in the women’s.
The Socrates Trophy, which recognizes social impact initiatives carried out by football players, was awarded to Englishman Bukayo Saka of Arsenal for work linked to the Big Shoe foundation.
Flamengo competes, but PSG takes prize for best club
Brazilian football was also represented by Flamengo in the competition for the best men's team.
The club, which won the 2025 Libertadores, ended up being overtaken by Paris Saint-Germain of France.
PSG was recognized for the winning international campaign, including the conquest of the European Champions League and the Intercontinental Cup, in which they defeated Flamengo in the penalty shootout decision.
In women’s football, Barcelona was chosen as the best club, crowning a season of titles and prominence on the European stage.
The 2026 edition of the Ballon d'Or enshrined Harry Kane as the leading name in men's football and reinforced Alexia Putellas' dominance among women. For Brazil, the ceremony ended without achievements in the main individual categories, with its representatives far from the top positions.
