Harry Kane lands Ballon d'Or nomination after record-breaking 73-goal season - but England captain faces fierce competition from two Three Lions team-mates

England captain Harry Kane has been nominated for the Ballon d’Or after scoring 73 goals for club and country last season.

Bayern Munich’s former Tottenham striker netted 61 times for the German giants and 12 for England, helping his club to the Bundesliga title and DFB-Pokal and the Three Lions to a third-place finish at the World Cup over the summer.

Winning major honours is generally the key component to winning the Ballon d'Or but Kane's 2025-26 season suggests things may pan out differently this time. 

Kane left some giants in his wake with those numbers, including Bayern legend Gerd Muller (72 in 1972-73), Cristiano Ronaldo (66 in both 2011-12 and 2014-15), Ronaldo (66 in 1996-97), Erling Haaland (64 in 2022-23) and Luis Suarez (64 in 2015-16).

Indeed, only Lionel Messi has scored more goals for club and country in a single season, with 82 for Barcelona and Argentina in 2011-12.

Kane is the bookmakers' favourite to claim the award, with Sky Bet pricing him at 4/7, ahead of Barcelona's Lamine Yamal (11/4) and Spain's World Cup-winning midfielder Rodri (9/2). 

Kane said of his chances: ‘Of course, now it is out of my hands, it is down to the voters and the people who decide it.

'The season I had was my best season by far, and we'll have to wait and see. I'm happy that I am in contention, so we will have to wait and see.’ 

Should Kane win the award, he would become only the fifth English player to do so after Stanley Matthews, Bobby Charlton, Kevin Keegan and Michael Owen.

He faces stiff competition from his national team-mate Jude Bellingham, however, who has also received a nomination alongside Real Madrid galactico Mbappe.

Manchester United's Bruno Fernandes, Manchester City's Erling Haaland and Arsenal's Gabriel, William Saliba and Declan Rice make up the Premier League contingent.

Champions League winners Paris Saint-Germain also set a new record, with ten players among the 30 nominees.

Messi, who took Argentina to the World Cup final, has been nominated for a 16th time. He is second only to Cristiano Ronaldo's 18 for number of nominations.

The Ballon d’Or returns on Monday October 26, with a ceremony in London and a host of prizes up for grabs.

Premier League champions Arsenal were among the nominations for Team of the Year, with manager Mikel Arteta on the list to be considered for the season's best coach after guiding the Gunners to their first title in 22 years. 

He will face stiff competition for that from Spain's triumphant Luis de la Fuente after their World Cup triumph against Argentina. La Roja conceded only once in 12 and a half hours of World Cup football in the Americas and, of course, are favourites to take team of the year. 

Luis Enrique led PSG to another Champions League triumph and was once again nominated for the Manager of the Year award. 

Another Spaniard and former Arsenal boss, Unai Emery, also finds himself nominated after Aston Villa's Europa League success. Bayern Munich boss Vincent Kompany makes up the five nominees.

Meanwhile, Lionesses Alex Greenwood and Alessia Russo have been nominated for the women's prize.

WSL winners Manchester City have four additional nominees alongside captain Greenwood, with Golden Boot winner Bunny Shaw, Kerstin Casparij, Yui Hasegawa and Vivianne Miedema also making the cut.

London City Lionesses' midfielder Alexia Putellas is hunting a record-equalling third award after winning the Champions League with Barcelona last season.