Harry Kane walked off the London Palladium stage on Monday night holding the trophy that had eluded every English player for a quarter of a century. By Tuesday morning, he had already named the two he has not yet lifted.
Speaking to AFP after the ceremony, the 33-year-old striker said individual recognition would not be enough.
“The Champions League, at club level, and to win a major trophy with England is the number one priority for sure,” he told the agency.
“I still have a lot to achieve in this game. There’s so many great things I want to achieve.”
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The 2026 Ballon d’Or came off the back of 73 goals in 65 appearances for club and country last season, 36 of them in the Bundesliga as Bayern Munich completed a league and cup double under Vincent Kompany. Kane added 14 Champions League goals as Bayern reached the last four, and six at the FIFA World Cup in North America over the summer.
He finished ahead of Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappé and Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal in the vote at the London Palladium, becoming the first English winner since Michael Owen in 2001.
An England wait that stretches to 1966
England have not won a senior men’s tournament since the 1966 World Cup, and Kane has captained the side through three of the sport’s most painful near-misses: defeats in the Euro 2020 and Euro 2024 finals, and the 2-1 semi-final loss to Argentina at the 2026 World Cup in July.
He was rested for the third-place play-off against France, which England won 6-4 with Bukayo Saka scoring a hat-trick.
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In his acceptance speech at the Palladium, Kane turned to the England dressing room before anyone else outside Munich.
“To all my England teammates, we had a special year. It wasn’t the perfect year, but we had a lot of good moments,” he said from the stage, before thanking head coach Thomas Tuchel.
At Bayern, Europe is the piece that is missing
Kane joined Bayern from Tottenham in 2023 and has since won the Bundesliga and the DFB-Pokal, with a hat-trick in the cup final against Stuttgart last season. The European title remains the gap on his honours list.
He is on 23 goals in 17 appearances for Bayern this season. Kompany, the manager Kane referred to as “Vinnie” from the stage, was hospitalised on Friday after collapsing during a reserves training session, three days before Kane picked up the award in his name.
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Bayern’s next Champions League assignment is in the league phase of the competition. England’s next competitive window is the international break in November.
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