Ranking England's Ballon d'Or winners - how does Kane compare?

Kane becomes England's fifth Ballon d'Or winner and first in 25 years after his Bayern Munich campaign, joining Matthews, Charlton, Keegan and Owen.

Harry Kane has won the Ballon d'Or, becoming England's fifth winner of football's most prestigious individual award and the first since Michael Owen in 2001 — a gap of 22 years.

Kane claimed the prize after a standout season with Bayern Munich. He joins an elite group of English winners: Stanley Matthews, who won the inaugural award in 1956 at age 41; Bobby Charlton, who won in 1966 after England's World Cup triumph; Kevin Keegan, who won twice in the late 1970s; and Owen, who won at age 22 in 2001 after helping Liverpool to a treble and scoring a hat-trick for England against Germany.

The article notes that the award has evolved significantly since its inception — originally restricted to European players until 1995, and only expanded globally in 2007 to include players from all clubs worldwide. Several other English players have finished as runners-up, including Bobby Moore, Gary Lineker, David Beckham, Frank Lampard, Lucy Bronze and Beth Mead.