Why Bayern Munich's Harry Kane deserves to win the Ballon d'Or
It was no shock to see Harry Kane amongst the 2026 Ballon d’Or nominees after an unforgettable 2026/27 season for club and country. The question now, though, is whether the Bayern Munich man deserves to receive the top prize. There are numerous reasons why he does…
Following his arrival from Tottenham Hotspur in 2023, Kane has been in irresistible form for Bayern. He hit the ground running, netting 36 goals in his maiden Bundesliga campaign, more than any other player in their first season.
While he struck only 26 times – still enough to win the Torjägerkönig for a second season running – the following term, it earned him his first piece of major silverware as he and his teammates lifted the Meisterschale to make up for the previous season’s third-place finish.
Surpassing those heights seemed almost impossible, yet Kane silenced any remaining doubters emphatically. Once again, he struck 36 times in the league to finish top goalscorer for a third successive time, finding the back of the net as much as second and third in the rankings, Deniz Undav and Serhou Guirassy respectively, combined.
He dominated not only in the Bundesliga, though. The striker netted in every round of the DFB Cup, including a clinical hat-trick in the final, as Bayern completed a domestic double. He then added 14 strikes in 13 UEFA Champions League games, finishing only behind Kylian Mbappé (15) during his side’s run to the semi-finals.
Then came the FIFA World Cup 2026 in North America. Throughout a tournament that was marked by star power, as the likes of Mbappé, Lionel Messi, Erling Haaland and Jude Bellingham all shone, Kane made sure he didn’t miss the party, scoring on six occasions while skippering England to third place and their best finish since 1966.
All in all, that left him on an astonishing 73 goals across the season for club and country. An awe-inspiring number in itself, but even more incredible when you consider that it is the best scoring season of any player in European football history besides Messi (82 in 2011/12).
The records Kane set are almost too numerous to count. He is the fastest player to reach 100 goals for a club in Europe’s top five leagues, requiring just 104 games to do so, while he surpassed Gary Lineker as England’s top goalscorer at the World Cup, taking his tally to 14 – overall, only four players sit above him.
The raw numbers, though, only tell half the story. His unbelievable finishing is one facet of an all-round game that only seems to get better with age. Kane is not only decisive in the penalty area, but he often starts attacks, dropping deep to collect the ball before bringing the likes of Michael Olise and Luis Díaz for Bayern, or Bellingham for England, into play.
He managed five assists in the league, plus two more in the Champions League, but again, the figures are somewhat reductive. Look at Kane’s sublime pass for Díaz against Paris Saint-Germain in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final, or his all-encompassing performance versus Borussia Dortmund in the term’s first Klassiker – true examples of Kane’s talents.
Given the competition he is up against – Messi, Mbappé, Haaland, Lamine Yamal and Rodri are amongst the other front-runners for the award – there is much more required than an eye-catching goal tally. Fortunately for Kane, the list of qualities he possesses keeps on getting longer.
Praise for his exploits has come from all corners, but former England international Rio Ferdinand put it best. “Only Lionel Messi has ever scored more goals in a season than Harry Kane,” he said in a video message when Kane was awarded the European Golden Shoe. “You won the Golden Boot, you were England's top scorer at the World Cup. Who else should win the Ballon d'Or? Who else but Harry?”
We will find out on Monday, 26 October at the Ballon d’Or ceremony in Kane’s hometown of London.
