Harry Kane has taken the scenic route to the Ballon d'Or, a road littered with doubts and diversions, but one that ultimately led to being crowned the world's best player. The 33-year-old's glory at the London Palladium on Monday is a fitting reward for an exemplary career that has seen records fall for England, Tottenham Hotspur and Bayern Munich.
Kane is England's top goalscorer with 91 goals and has 125 England caps, joint-highest with Peter Shilton. He is Spurs' record scorer with 280 goals in 435 appearances. During the 2025–26 season he scored a remarkable 73 goals in 65 games for Bayern Munich and England. This Kane beat Real Madrid and France striker Kylian Mbappe, as well as Spain's teenage Barcelona forward Lamine Yamal, to the sport's biggest personal honour.
Kane's humility has seen him described as an 'anti-superstar', and his achievement has been commended both inside and outside the football world. As he celebrated the greatest moment of his career, one social media post said it all: "Work hard in silence. Let success be your noise."
Yet Kane's journey was not always smooth. It began with loan moves around the lower divisions at Leyton Orient, Millwall, Norwich City and Leicester City before he developed into a great for club and country. In May 2013, he sat on the bench at Leicester City alongside future England team-mate Jamie Vardy when the Foxes lost a dramatic Championship play-off at Watford. Vardy later admitted that was one of the hardest times of his career, and Kane has long shown the strength of character that carried him through such doubts.
Source: BBC Sport Football · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing