Kane’s Ballon d’Or triumph a glorious riposte to celebrity fawning of ceremony | Barney Ronay

The England captain spoke movingly on night of deserving winners and unintentional hilarity in London Well, there’s something new. Football: now available in new, genuinely heartwarming flavour. There was a lovely moment at London’s Palladium theatre, with the clock creeping towards 11pm at the end of a startlingly shrill and bloated evening of never-ending awards and never ending award-related excitement. Not just for Harry Kane, who is now the 2026 men’s Ballon d’Or winner, and in the process placed indelibly in that lineage of elite footballers. But also, frankly, for anyone watching, as Kane stood on stage gazing a little shyly at his golden orb, and kicked off his speech by thanking everyone, paying tribute to everyone, everywhere, then finally cracking into tears and a strangled croak as he thanked his parents for sacrifices made, his wife for always being there, and even, in slightly jarring vibe-shift from the warm honeyed tone, José Mourinho.

Even Kane’s biggest advocates will rarely claim their man is one of a kind, sui generis, in the mode of the Ronaldo-Messi godhead. But Kane is exactly this in his own admirably humble way. Not just exceptional footballer, the best, most deserving men’s