Sports · Soccer · 12 outlets (L 2 · C 2 · R 1 · 7 not rated)
Harry Kane wins 2026 Ballon d'Or, first English winner in 25 years
Harry Kane won the 2026 Ballon d'Or at a ceremony at the Palladium Theatre in London, becoming the first Englishman to win football's most prestigious individual trophy in 25 years.[2, 12] The last English winner was Michael Owen in 2001, according to BBC News and Al Jazeera.[9, 12] The Athletic reported Kane scored 73 goals in 65 matches for Bayern Munich and England during the 2025-26 season.[18]
Alexia Putellas won the women's Ballon d'Or, according to The Guardian and Al Jazeera.[2, 9] The Guardian described wild cheers inside the auditorium when Kane's name emerged from the final envelope two hours into the ceremony.[2]
Covered by NPR, ABC News, New York Post and 9 more
Read first Kane becomes first Englishman in 25 years to win Ballon d'Or
How balanced is this coverage?
Of the 5 rated outlets that covered it, 2 are left of center, 2 are center and 1 is right of center. 7 more are not rated.
Too few left- or right-leaning outlets to compare: 2 of 42 left-leaning, 2 of 33 center and 1 of 38 right-leaning outlets covered it.
- Left: none.
- Leans left: The Guardian (−0.70), NPR (−0.68).
- Center: ABC News (−0.19), Forbes (+0.19).
- Leans right: New York Post (+0.64).
- Right: none.
Not rated Al Jazeera, The Athletic, BBC News, ESPN, Financial Times, Sky News, The Telegraph. Not placed: they have no lean score.
Each dot is an outlet that covered it, placed by its audience-lean score (Eady et al. 2025), which measures who shares its links, not how accurate it is. The ticks under the line are all 113 rated outlets Tare reads.