Harry Kane Ballon d'Or: England's 25-Year Wait Ends

The Harry Kane Ballon d'Or story is finally real: the England captain was crowned the best men's player on the planet at a glitzy ceremony inside the London Palladium on Monday night, ending a quarter-century wait for an English winner. According to BBC Sport, the thirty-three-year-old Bayern Munich striker is the first Englishman to win since Michael Owen back in the early two-thousands.

It was also a historic night for the trophy itself. The seventieth edition of the award was staged outside France for the first time, a nod to Sir Stanley Matthews, the very first winner back in nineteen fifty-six. Hosts Thierry Henry and Kate Scott kept things moving, though the main event still took roughly two hours to arrive.

A Record-Smashing Season Did the Talking

The numbers behind the Harry Kane Ballon d'Or win are almost silly. BBC Sport reports that he scored sixty-one goals in fifty-one matches for Bayern last season, the most any player has ever banged in for the club in a single campaign. Add his England games and the tally climbs to seventy-three goals plus eight assists in sixty-five appearances.

Only one player from Europe's top leagues has ever scored more in a season, and that is Lionel Messi, who hit eighty-two for Barcelona and Argentina in the 2011-12 campaign. Kane's league return was just as lopsided: thirty-six Bundesliga goals, seventeen clear of anybody else, plus fourteen in the Champions League and ten in the German Cup.

The Guardian's Barney Ronay called him a "fully deserving winner" and pointed to a year in which Kane collected the European Golden Boot, helped Bayern to the Bundesliga title and captained England to a World Cup semi-final. In its report, The Guardian also noted that he has racked up eighty-nine goals for club and country since August last year.

Beating Yamal and Mbappe Without a Big Trophy

What makes this vote so spicy is who he beat. Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe finished second, while Barcelona's Lamine Yamal, who won the World Cup with Spain, took third. Plenty of fans online had Yamal pencilled in as the favourite, so expect the comment sections to stay loud for days.

Kane did it without lifting either of football's two biggest prizes last season. He lost in both the World Cup and Champions League semi-finals, and BBC Sport says he is only the fifth winner in twenty years who had not claimed a World Cup, Champions League or continental title that year. His trophy haul was the German double of league and cup.

He is also the first Bayern player to take the award since Karl-Heinz Rummenigge in nineteen eighty-one. Not bad for a guy who once went out on loan to Leyton Orient and Millwall while trying to make it as a youngster.

What Kane Said About Doubters and Self-Belief

Speaking to DAZN, Kane admitted that few people would have predicted this moment, describing a career full of ups and downs where he was never tipped as the next superstar. He said he had to bide his time, work hard and show self-belief and determination to push through.

The reaction from home was warm. England manager Thomas Tuchel said he was delighted and called it a huge honour, while Prince William praised Kane as a brilliant captain and a remarkable player. Wembley's arch was lit gold on Monday night to mark the win.

The Rest of the Night, Plus a Website Blunder

Alexia Putellas took the women's Ballon d'Or for a record-equalling third time, five years after her first, and she now plays for London City Lionesses. Yamal collected the men's Young Talent award, though he said teammate Pau Cubarsi deserved it more, and Vicky Lopez won the women's version.

Other winners included Unai Simon for best goalkeeper, Luis de la Fuente for men's coach, Paris Saint-Germain as men's club of the year and Arsenal's Bukayo Saka, who picked up the Socrates Award for humanitarian work, according to The Independent. Fun chaos note: ESPN reported that the official Ballon d'Or website briefly published articles naming Kane, Mbappe and Yamal as winners hours before the ceremony, then pulled them.

Can He Go Back to Back?

The early signs say yes. Kane has ten goals in his first twelve games for Bayern this season and six more in four Nations League matches for England, and Bayern are unbeaten in the Bundesliga and Champions League. No player other than Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo has won it in consecutive years since Marco van Basten in the late eighties.

Yamal will fancy his chances after two straight second-place finishes, and Mbappe is still hunting his first. With no World Cup, Euros or Copa America next season, club glory could decide it. For more football storylines, check out our sports coverage and the wider world news feed.