Harry Kane Would Trade the Ballon d'Or for Champions League Glory with Bayern

The Bayern Munich captain, fresh off winning his first Ballon d'Or, said he wouldn't hesitate to swap the next individual award for lifting the UEFA Champions League

An individual award that matters, but not that much

England striker Harry Kane made his true priority crystal clear. After winning his first Ballon d'Or last week, edging out Kylian Mbappé and Lamine Yamal in the voting, the Bayern Munich captain said he wouldn't hesitate to swap that individual honor for a UEFA Champions League title with his team.

"I think I'd swap the next Ballon d'Or for a Champions League triumph," said Kane. "The team aspect of the sport is why we all play. Of course, winning the Ballon d'Or was one of the greatest moments of my life. But winning with Bayern – that would be an absolutely incredible feeling."

A season of historic numbers

The 33-year-old forward became the fourth-oldest first-time Ballon d'Or winner (33 years, 90 days), behind only Stanley Matthews in 1956 (41 years, 321 days), Karim Benzema in 2022 (34 years, 302 days) and Lev Yashin in 1963 (34 years, 56 days).

His 2025-26 season was simply spectacular: he scored 61 goals in all competitions, 19 more than any other player in Europe's top five leagues. It was the most by a player in a single season since Cristiano Ronaldo scored 61 for Real Madrid in 2014-15.

Bayern among the favorites, and Kane eyeing the trophy

In the last Champions League, Bayern Munich reached the semi-finals, where they lost 6-5 on aggregate to Paris Saint-Germain, who went on to be crowned champions. Kane's 14 goals in that edition were the most ever by an English player in a single European Cup season since 1955, and he also scored in each of his last 10 appearances in the competition.

Looking ahead to next season, Bayern is considered one of the top contenders to lift the trophy: the Opta supercomputer gives them a 15.8% chance of victory, the second-highest percentage behind Arsenal's 22.7%. And Kane, true to form, has already made it clear he prefers European glory over another individual accolade.

"And once you've won the Ballon d'Or, it's something really special. We all want to reach the Champions League final and achieve that great success as a team," added the striker. "At the moment, I'm still in with a chance of winning both."