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Bayern Munich striker and England captain Harry Kane has addressed talk of further individual accolades after scooping the 2026 Ballon d’Or.
Kane became the first English winner of football’s biggest individual award since Michael Owen in 2001 when he was given the Ballon d’Or at the end of a glitzy ceremony on Monday evening. The last Bayern player to be recognised as the world’s best was Karl-Heinz Rummenigge in 1981.
The 33-year-old was voted top of the football pops after scoring 61 times in 51 appearances in all competitions last season. He led England to the semi-finals of the World Cup and collected his second consecutive Bundesliga title.
‘I’d feel weird’ being called Sir Harry Kane, says Sir Harry Kane
Speaking after the first time he laced up his boots as the official best footballer on the planet, Kane gave a typically measured response to suggestions he could be in line to become a knight of the realm as England’s fifth Ballon d’Or winner.
“I wouldn’t say no to it [a knighthood,] that’s for sure,” Kane told reporters after he watched Bayern’s thumping DFB-Pokal win over Magdeburg from the bench on Wednesday.
“If it happens it’ll be incredible, and something I’ll be massively proud of. But I don’t want to get too carried away. It would sound good, but I’d feel weird everyone calling me Sir. So we’ll just keep it as Harry for now.”
The England captain is bound to be the subject of political and royal attention whether he wants it or not.
Football-loving Prime Minister Andy Burnham has had his say and Prince William, patron of the FA and a keen supporter of Aston Villa and the England team, beamed at the news that Kane was the Ballon d’Or winner.
“What a fantastic achievement and so deserved,” the Prince posted on Instagram on Monday night. “A brilliant captain, a remarkable player and someone who has given football fans across the world so many unforgettable moments.”
Kane is the kind of professional who will be more openly focused on winning matches and league titles than picking up individual pots, but being rewarded for scoring goals is surely a dream come true for a striker obsessed with goals.
Kane has scored plenty of them. He left Tottenham Hotspur as the second-highest scorer in the Premier League. Only Alan Shearer scored more than Kane’s 213 Premier League goals and it took him many more goals to do it.
England’s captain is also their record scorer and will become their most-capped player next month when he picks up his 126th cap to go with a shiny pair of European golden shoes.
Kane will have both feet back on terra firm when Bayern Munich take on Borussia Dortmund on Saturday. The teams are locked together on points at the top of the Bundesliga.
