The Sports Guru
Harry Kane has won the Ballon d'Or in a year when he lost both a World Cup semi-final and a Champions League semi-final. This article explains why the vote went his way, how unusual that is, and whether he can repeat it.
It took 25 years for an Englishman to win the Ballon d'Or again, and the player who finally did it had no World Cup or Champions League medal to show for the season. Harry Kane, 33, collected the award at a ceremony in London, the first English winner since Michael Owen in 2001. His win suggests that goals on this scale can outweigh a modest trophy haul, at least when the leading rivals are hard to separate on anything else.
A first for England since Owen, and a first for Bayern since Rummenigge
Kane becomes the fifth Englishman to take the award. Stanley Matthews won in 1956, Bobby Charlton in 1966, and Kevin Keegan in 1978 and 1979. Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe placed second, with Barcelona's Lamine Yamal third. For Bayern Munich, this is a first winner since Karl-Heinz Rummenigge in 1981.
Kane called himself "almost speechless" and said London made the night "extra special". Thomas Tuchel, his England manager, said he had run out of superlatives for Kane's performances "a long time ago". The Wembley arches were lit gold on Monday night to mark the win.
Until now, 10th was Kane's best finish in this vote, so the leap is considerable. It arrived in his third campaign at Bayern.
The case was built on goals, and the goals were extraordinary
Over 51 club matches last season, Kane struck 61 times. No Bayern player has scored more in a single campaign, even though Gerd Muller, Rummenigge and Robert Lewandowski have all worn the shirt. Cristiano Ronaldo also reached 61 for Real Madrid 11 years ago, and no one has matched it since.
Those goals came from every front. In the Bundesliga he finished top scorer on 36, which left the next player 17 behind. He added 14 in the Champions League and 10 in the German Cup, one of them part of a hat-trick when Stuttgart were beaten 3-0 in the final. One more arrived in the German Super Cup.
Adding 12 goals for England, six of them at the World Cup, gives a season total of 73 goals and eight assists across 65 matches. Only one player at a club in Europe's top five leagues has ever scored more than his 61 in a year, and Kane ended 19 ahead of every other scorer in those leagues last season.
When international games are counted, only Lionel Messi stands higher among players from Europe's top leagues, with 82 for Barcelona and Argentina in 2011-12. Muller's 72 in 1972-73 is the next mark below Kane's 73, with Ronaldo, Erling Haaland and Luis Suarez further back.
Winning without the major prizes
Here is the tension. Kane's silverware was the German double. That more than doubled his career trophy total, since he had also lifted the Bundesliga the year before. But Bayern fell in the Champions League semi-finals and England went out at the same stage of the World Cup. Measured against football's two grandest prizes, he came up short.
Recent voting has usually favoured someone who won at least one of them. In the past 20 years, only five times has the award gone to a player who had not won the World Cup, the Champions League, or a European Championship or Copa America. Kane now sits alongside Messi, who did it three times, and Ronaldo. Yamal, a World Cup winner with Spain, was among the favourites and lost out. A year ago, Ousmane Dembele took the award after PSG won the Champions League.
My reading, and it is analysis rather than a reported finding, is that the electorate had no obvious team to back. With the major honours scattered and Kane's output close to unprecedented, the individual argument was the simplest one to make. Alan Shearer had said Kane "should get it", and Danny Murphy called him the best centre forward in the world across the previous 12 months.
Can he do it again?
The start to this season points that way. Kane has 10 goals in his first 12 games for Bayern, plus six in four Nations League games for England, a return of 16 goals in 16 matches. Bayern have not lost in the Bundesliga or Champions League.
A second award would probably depend on the trophies he is missing. Should Bayern win a Treble while Kane keeps scoring at around a goal a game, ignoring him would be difficult, particularly in a year without a World Cup, European Championship or Copa America. Marco van Basten, in 1988 and 1989, is the last player other than Messi or Ronaldo to win in consecutive years.
The rivals are already scoring. Yamal has 10 goals and 10 assists in 13 games across La Liga and the Champions League, and Barcelona are currently favourites for the European title. At 20, he would be the youngest ever winner, taking the record from Brazilian Ronaldo, who was 21 in 1997. Mbappe has 14 goals in 13 appearances for club and country and is still chasing a first award. Arsenal, who have never had a Ballon d'Or winner, and PSG are also among the Champions League frontrunners.
Kane has shown that a monumental scoring year can carry the vote without a major trophy. Next year, with no international tournament to cloud the picture, the Champions League may count for more.
Frequently Asked Questions
Michael Owen won in 2001. Kane is the fifth Englishman to win, after Matthews, Charlton, Keegan and Owen.
He scored 61 in 51 club matches for Bayern Munich. With 12 for England, the total was 73 goals, plus eight assists, in 65 matches.
No. He lost in the semi-finals of both, but won the German double with Bayern.
Kylian Mbappe of Real Madrid was second and Lamine Yamal of Barcelona was third.
He has 16 goals in 16 matches for club and country this season. A repeat looks tougher to dismiss if Bayern win a Treble, but Yamal and Mbappe are also scoring heavily.
Research: This article uses the archived evidence supplied for this story. Story inspiration: BBC Sport's original report.