Ballon d'Or 2026 Winners List: Harry Kane and Alexia Putellas Win at First Ceremony in London

What happened

The 70th Ballon d'Or ceremony was held on Monday, 26 October 2026, at the London Palladium in London. It was the first time the awards were presented outside Paris. The venue was chosen to honour England's Stanley Matthews, who won the first Ballon d'Or in 1956.

• Harry Kane (Bayern Munich and England) won the men's Ballon d'Or. Kylian Mbappe (Real Madrid, France) was second and Lamine Yamal (Barcelona, Spain) third.
• Alexia Putellas (Spain) won the women's Ballon d'Or for the third time, after her wins in 2021 and 2022. The award season covers her time at Barcelona, before her move to London City Lionesses in July 2026.

Kane is the first Englishman to win since Michael Owen in 2001, a gap of 25 years. He is the fifth English winner, after Stanley Matthews (1956), Bobby Charlton (1966), Kevin Keegan (1978 and 1979) and Owen.

Background

• Origin: The award was created by the French magazine France Football in 1956. Since 2024 it has been co-organised by France Football, which is owned by the L'Equipe Group, and UEFA.
• Usual venue: The ceremony had been held at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris since 2019.
• Who votes: The men's award is voted on by a jury of 100 journalists, one from each of the top 100 countries in the FIFA ranking. The women's jury has 50 journalists.
• Season, not calendar year: The award is based on a football season rather than the calendar year. For 2026 the assessment period ran from 3 August 2025 to 19 July 2026.

Key details

Ballon d'Or 2026: full winners list

Kane's season in numbers: 73 goals in 65 matches (61 for Bayern Munich and 12 for England). With Bayern he won the Bundesliga, the German Cup and the German Supercup.

Other notes:

• Lamine Yamal won the Kopa Trophy for the third year in a row, and Vicky Lopez the women's Kopa Trophy for the second year in a row.
• Putellas's three wins equal the total of her compatriot Aitana Bonmati, who won three in a row from 2023 to 2025.
• Spanish players won both goalkeeper awards and both young-player awards, and Spain's national team coach Luis de la Fuente took the men's coach award.

Why it matters

• A first for the award: In its 70th year, the ceremony left Paris for the first time, as a tribute to its first winner.
• England's long wait ends: Kane ends a 25-year gap since Michael Owen's win in 2001.
• Spain's women stay on top: Spanish players have won every women's Ballon d'Or from 2021 to 2026: Putellas in 2021, 2022 and 2026, and Bonmati from 2023 to 2025.
• Exam value: The Ballon d'Or is a regular topic in sports GK, and questions often pair the current winner with static facts such as the organiser and the year of the first award.

Issues and criticism

• Trophies versus quality: Writing before the ceremony, Sports Illustrated argued that silverware had become a proxy for contention, pulling the award away from simply honouring the best or most exciting player.
• Bundesliga under-represented: The same article noted that Matthias Sammer (1996) had been the only Bundesliga-based winner in the previous 44 seasons. Kane's win at Bayern Munich ends that run.
• Judging a season: Sport News Africa cautioned that the ranking is a vote over a fixed period and should not be read as an absolute verdict on a player's importance.

Way forward

• Students should learn the award's static facts along with the new winners, since questions mix the two.
• Transparent voting rules and published rankings help the award keep its credibility amid debate over trophies versus individual quality.

For more practice, try the weekly current affairs quiz.

Prelims pointers

• The 70th Ballon d'Or was held on 26 October 2026 at the London Palladium, the first ceremony outside Paris.
• Men's winner: Harry Kane (Bayern Munich, England); runner-up Kylian Mbappe, third Lamine Yamal.
• Women's winner: Alexia Putellas (Spain), her third title after 2021 and 2022.
• The award was created by France Football in 1956; the first winner was Stanley Matthews of England.
• UEFA has co-organised the awards with France Football since 2024.
• English winners: Matthews (1956), Charlton (1966), Keegan (1978, 1979), Owen (2001) and Kane (2026).
• Kopa Trophy: Lamine Yamal and Vicky Lopez. Yashin Trophy: Unai Simon and Cata Coll.
• Socrates Award 2026: Bukayo Saka (Arsenal, England).

One-liners for SSC, Banking and Railways

• Ballon d'Or 2026 (men): Harry Kane, England.
• Ballon d'Or Feminin 2026: Alexia Putellas, Spain.
• Venue of the Ballon d'Or 2026: London Palladium, London.
• Organiser of the Ballon d'Or: France Football magazine (with UEFA as co-organiser).
• First Ballon d'Or winner (1956): Stanley Matthews.
• Men's Club of the Year 2026: Paris Saint-Germain; women's: Barcelona.

Mains practice question

Q. Hosting global sporting events and awards is often seen as a tool of soft power. With reference to the decision to hold the 2026 Ballon d'Or in London instead of Paris, discuss how sport shapes a country's international image. (150 words)

Points to cover:

1. What soft power means, and how sport projects culture and attracts attention and visitors.
2. The London example: the venue was chosen to honour the award's first winner, England's Stanley Matthews.
3. Limits: such events are short-lived and costly, and image gains depend on sustained success.
4. Lessons for India: hosting events and building sporting excellence to strengthen its global image.