Twenty-five years was the wait. Michael Owen in 2001 was the last Englishman to lift the men’s Ballon d’Or, until Kane became the fifth to do so on Monday night.

Tuchel’s reaction landed via a Football Association statement addressed to his captain.

“Congratulations Harry on a deserved Ballon D’Or! I ran out of superlatives to describe your performances a long time ago, but I’m delighted to see that you have now been formally recognised by the football world.”

“To become the first Englishman to win this huge honour in 25 years makes it extra special and we are lucky to have you as our leader.”

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A 73-goal season at Bayern

The 33-year-old scored 73 goals across the award season for club and country, finishing ahead of Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappé in second and Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal in third.

Bayern Munich carried off the Bundesliga and the DFB-Pokal. The one gap was Europe, where Bayern went out in the Champions League semi-finals.

The England summer behind the vote

Kane’s international year gave the campaign its backdrop. England reached the World Cup semi-final in July before losing 2-1 to Argentina, then produced a 6-4 win over France in Miami to take bronze, their best World Cup finish since 1966. Bukayo Saka’s hat-trick carried that play-off, with Kane wearing the armband throughout the tournament.

Tuchel signed off by telling Kane to enjoy the moment with his family before going back to what he does best: scoring goals and winning football matches.

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