Two days after Harry Kane lifted the Ballon d’Or at the London Palladium, the question in Westminster was no longer whether he had earned a knighthood but when he might get it.

A spokeswoman for Prime Minister Andy Burnham told the lobby briefing on Tuesday that the government would not pre-empt the formal honours system, while making clear the mood inside Number 10.

“On your question about a knighthood, I think everyone would agree, Harry Kane has given an enormous amount to English football, and this is a very special moment for him in the country,” she said. “But, as ever, I’m not going to pre-empt the honours process.”

The non-denial was enough for the back benches. Labour MPs Rosena Allin-Khan and Clive Efford publicly called for Kane to be knighted once his playing career ends, the convention under which active footballers in England are almost never given the title.

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The 70-year echo

The spokeswoman also framed Kane’s win in historical terms, pointing to the first ever Ballon d’Or. “To be the first Englishman to win it in 25 years is an extraordinary achievement, and what a moment to do it here at home, 70 years after Sir Stanley Matthews won the inaugural award,” she said, as reported by LBC.

Kane is the fifth Englishman to take the men’s award and the first since Michael Owen in 2001. He was named ahead of Kylian Mbappé and Lamine Yamal after a season in which he scored 73 goals for club and country and helped Bayern Munich complete a domestic treble.

The club Kane would join

A knighthood would place the 33-year-old alongside a short list of England internationals previously honoured for services to football: Sir Stanley Matthews, Sir Alf Ramsey, Sir Bobby Charlton, Sir Geoff Hurst, Sir Tom Finney and Sir Trevor Brooking among them.

The most recent addition is Sir David Beckham, knighted by King Charles III at Windsor Castle in November 2025, more than a decade after he retired from the game. Beckham’s case underlines the point Allin-Khan and Efford made in their calls: in English football, the title tends to arrive long after the career has ended.

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Still the captain, still playing

That is the obstacle to a near-term “Arise, Sir Harry.” Kane remains Bayern Munich’s starting striker and England’s captain, with more caps still to come.

Downing Street cannot, in any case, hand out knighthoods on its own. Honours in the United Kingdom are formally recommended through independent committees and then approved by the monarch, which is why Burnham’s spokeswoman could praise Kane fulsomely but go no further than “I’m not going to pre-empt” the process.

The King’s next Birthday Honours list is published in June 2027.

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