By OkayGoal
The long wait for another English winner of the Ballon d’Or is finally over as Harry Kane picked up the prestigious award for 2026 on Monday night.
Only four other footballers from England have collected the gong since its inception 70 years ago, making this a particularly impressive achievement by the Bayern Munich striker.
Every English footballer to win the men’s Ballon d’Or award:
Stanley Matthews (1956)
The first Englishman to claim the Ballon d’Or did not play for Liverpool or Manchester United or Arsenal or another one of the country’s biggest clubs. Nope, he actually played for Blackpool.
Sir Stanley Matthews enjoyed a very long and fascinating senior career in English football that spanned four decades, the first 15 years of which were spent with boyhood club Stoke City. The forward helped the Potters win the Second Division and Staffordshire Senior Cup in the thirties.
Despite being a world-class player, Matthews only won one major trophy, but it went down as one of the most famous triumphs in British football history. At the age of 38, he inspired Blackpool to come back from 3-1 down with 35 minutes to go against Bolton Wanderers in the 1953 FA Cup final, winning 4-3 at Wembley Stadium.
Three years later, Matthews won the inaugural Ballon d’Or by narrowly beating Alfredo Di Stefano in the voting. Blackpool have as many winners of the prize as clubs such as Ajax, Borussia Dortmund and Liverpool.
Matthews returned to Stoke in 1961 before retiring four years later at the age of 50.
Ballon d’Or 2026 – Rankings revealed from this year’s ceremony
Bobby Charlton (1966)
Arguably the greatest English footballer of all time, Sir Bobby Charlton won the Ballon d’Or after leading England to glory at the FIFA World Cup in 1966. Over the course of his 17-year career at Manchester United, he won three league titles and the European Cup, as well as setting club records for most goals (249) and appearances (758) that stood for decades before being broken by Wayne Rooney and Ryan Giggs respectively.
Kevin Keegan (1978 & 1979)
The only Englishman to win the award twice, Kevin Keegan left Liverpool after winning the European Cup in 1977 to join German side Hamburg for a record transfer fee.
‘King Kev’ helped the club win the Bundesliga title before reaching the European Cup final the following season, which they lost to Nottingham Forest. His sublime performances over this period were recognised with consecutive Ballons d’Or.
Michael Owen (2001)
It would be 22 years before another Englishman won the Ballon d’Or when it was awarded to Michael Owen in 2001. It came as something of a surprise, with the Liverpool striker beating Raul, Oliver Kahn and David Beckham in the voting. But it should be remembered that Owen was coming off the back of a brilliant season with the Reds, scoring 24 goals as the club won a treble of major trophies.
Harry Kane (2026)
It really was now or never for Harry Kane. At 33 years old, another opportunity may never come around again. But after scoring 76 goals for club and country last season, winning the German double with Bayern and starring for England as they finished third in the FIFA World Cup, the former Spurs man beat Kylian Mbappé and Lamine Yamal to the most coveted individual accolade in the sport.
Read – Every winner from the Ballon d’Or 2026 awards ceremony
See Also – Five of the best Premier League away kits in 2026/27