Harry Kane and Alexia Putellas Win 2026 Ballon d’Or Awards at London Ceremony

Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane and London City Lionesses and Spain star Alexia Putellas claimed the men’s and women’s Ballon d’Or awards on Monday at the London Palladium Theatre in London, England.

Kane becomes England’s first Ballon d’Or winner in 25 years.

He edged out Kylian Mbappe and Lamine Yamal for the most prestigious individual award in football.

Putellas won the quadruple with Barcelona last season before joining the Women’s Super League side over the summer.

She thanked her former Barcelona teammates and head coach Pere Romeu, who won the Women’s Coach of the Year award earlier this evening.

“I want to say this prize is for Barcelona,” Putellas said on stage. She scored 26 goals and registered 15 assists in 53 matches.

Luis de la Fuente won the Ballon d’Or for men’s coach of the year after leading Spain to World Cup glory.

“Teamwork makes us invincible. This is a great honour,” de la Fuente said after collecting the award at a ceremony in London.

“The secret is to work with generous players who put the team first. We have such an amazing pool of talent—the best in the world—so as a coach I have a tremendous amount of talent to work with. This is their success,” he added.

At 65, de la Fuente stands out as a technician who worked his way up through Spain’s national coaching ranks, in an era when many coaches were previously star players.

Barcelona’s Pere Romeu received the women’s coaching award for masterminding a season in which his team won the Spanish league, Spanish cup, Super Cup, and Champions League.

Other award winners:

Striker of the Year – Harry Kane

Striker of the Year – Charlyn Corral

Women’s Club of the Year – Barcelona

Socrates Award for humanitarian work – Bukayo Saka

Men’s Goalkeeper of the Year – Unai Simon

Women’s Goalkeeper of the Year – Cata Coll

Women’s Young Talent of the Year – Lopez

Men’s Young Talent of the Year – Lamine Yamal

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