Kane says Ballon d'Or race out of his hands

Harry Kane says his 73-goal haul for Bayern Munich and England in 2025-2026 speaks for itself as he looks to pip Kylian Mbappe and Lamine Yamal to this year's Ballon d'Or.

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Kane is considered one of the leading contenders to be named the world's best player at October's ceremony in London.

He plundered 65 goals for Bayern across all competitions as it won a Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal double, while falling short in the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League.

That tally was at least 15 more than any other player from Europe's top five leagues, with Mbappe, Kane's likely rival for the award, netting 50 for Real Madrid – both tallies excluding the FIFA Club World Cup.

Including his goals for England, Kane found the net 73 times during the period considered in the Ballon d'Or voting.

Although reluctant to talk up his chances too much, Kane feels his exploits last season are worthy of recognition.

"I've never liked to talk about myself too much," Kane told Marca, ahead becoming the fastest player to 100 goals after scoring a penalty against Union Berlin on Saturday (AEST).

"The only thing I would say is that last season was incredible, on a personal level and as a team. It was, by far, the best season of my life.

"It's true that to finish on 73 goals, the second-highest tally in history ... it speaks for itself.

"I'm extremely proud of that. I can only thank my team-mates and everyone who has helped me to make that possible.

"But the Ballon d'Or is not in my hands. It depends on the people that vote. From my point of view, last season is in the past. I'm now focused on this one and I'm eager to see what else I can achieve.

"I know that people are going to speak a lot about the Ballon d'Or until October, because it's a big award."

Kane is hoping to become the fifth English player to win the Ballon d'Or and the first since Michael Owen in 2001. Stanley Matthews (1956), Bobby Charlton (1966) and Kevin Keegan (1978 and 1979) had previously claimed the award.