The 70th Ballon d’Or is being handed out in London on Monday evening, and the England manager has used the day before the ceremony to put his weight behind every one of his players in the running.
“If I could I’d vote for all three of them,” Tuchel told Goal.com, adding that he was delighted to have Kane, Bellingham and Rice on the 30-man shortlist and that voters could not pick wrongly between the three.
The intervention is unusual. National-team managers rarely weigh in on the Ballon d’Or race, and never with three of their own players in it. For the first time in more than two decades, three Englishmen are on the men’s shortlist for the award, confirmed last month by France Football and L’Equipe.
Kane the bookmakers’ pick
Of the three, Kane goes in as the heavy favorite. Tuchel told Goal.com the Bayern Munich striker had delivered the full package after a season of more than 70 goals, three trophies in Germany, and semi-finals at both the Champions League and the World Cup.
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The numbers behind Tuchel’s praise are stark. Kane scored 73 goals in 65 appearances for Bayern Munich and England during the voting window, which ran from August 2025 to the end of the World Cup in July. Six of those came at the tournament itself, where he overtook Gary Lineker as England’s all-time leading World Cup scorer.
Rice’s case rests more on Arsenal than England. Tuchel described him to Goal.com as an outstanding team player who carried the responsibility of a side that reached finals and won the Premier League. Bellingham was credited with world-class performances throughout the tournament, where England finished third after beating France 6-4 in the Miami play-off.
A 25-year wait at the Palladium
No Englishman has won the Ballon d’Or since Michael Owen collected the award in December 2001, when he was with Liverpool. The Palladium was chosen as host venue to mark the 70th edition and to honor Sir Stanley Matthews, the Blackpool winger who lifted the inaugural prize in 1956. It is the first ceremony held outside France.
Kane is not the only contender. Paris Saint-Germain’s Ousmane Dembele, last year’s winner, is on the shortlist again, as is Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal and Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe. PSG dominate the ballot with 10 nominees, reflecting a season in which they were French and European champions.
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Tuchel, who signed a contract extension in February taking him through to Euro 2028, has stopped short of saying anything that could be read as a vote for Kane over his two teammates. The decision, as the German put it to Goal.com, is one he does not have to make, because he is not a voter.
The ceremony starts at 20:00 GMT at the London Palladium on Monday 26 October, hosted by Kate Scott and Thierry Henry, and is streaming free worldwide on DAZN and the Ballon d’Or’s official site.
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