61 goals and historic hat-trick: The season that won Harry Kane Ballon d’Or
The Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane scored dozens of goals in his club appearances, delivered a historic cup-final hat-trick, and matched Cristiano Ronaldo’s scoring streak in Champions League knockout rounds. Here is a recap of the extraordinary 2025/26 campaign that has ended England’s 25 years of waiting for the Ballon d’Or.
Kane beat France’s Kylian Mbappé and Spain’s Lamine Yamal to the award in London on October 26, becoming the first English winner since Michael Owen in 2001, ESPN reported.
The England captain’s triumph followed 61 goals in 51 Bayern Munich appearances and a German league-and-cup double. At 33, Kane has become a striker whose career has so often brought personal records without silverware, but he finally has both.
According to Bayern’s breakdown of his season, Kane finished 19 club goals ahead of Mbappé. His tally matched Ronaldo’s best club season of 61, with Messi’s extraordinary 73 remaining further ahead.
Read more: How Kane and Bellingham combined during England’s World Cup campaign
A hat-trick nobody managed before
The German Cup final turned Kane’s remarkable scoring season into something more tangible: a trophy he had personally decided. Bayern beat Stuttgart 3–0, with Kane scoring all three goals.
Only three players had previously scored a hat-trick in the final. Kane became the first to score all three consecutively within a single half — a distinction that had eluded even Bayern greats Gerd Müller and Robert Lewandowski.
It also took him to ten goals in that season’s German Cup, the highest individual tally in 49 years. For a player who had spent so long waiting for team honours, this was an emphatic way to win one.
Read more: Palmer says Chelsea only have themselves to blame in Munich
The wait made the rewards sweeter
When Kane delivered his first Bundesliga trophy to Bayern’s museum in May 2025, he spoke about how long it had taken.
«This championship is a big dream come true for me. I’ve waited a long time for it,» he said at the time.
A year later, another league title and the cup had followed. At his second European Golden Shoe presentation in August, Kane offered a typically restrained verdict: «I think it’s been the best season of my career.»
Read more: England held by Ghana as Kane rues missed chance in World Cup stalemate: Photo
Former Bayern striker Luca Toni was less reserved. «You score a goal — and then you score the next one. And the next one,» he told Kane.
