Can Kane buck history and win Ballon d'Or?

What the report says

BBC Sport Football says Harry Kane enters the Ballon d’Or conversation as the bookmakers’ favourite ahead of the shortlist announcement, but history points to a difficult path. The report explains that the award has often gone to players who have recently won major trophies, especially the World Cup, and that recent voting has also tended to reward success in the Champions League, European Championship or Copa America.

Kane’s case, however, is being framed around exceptional individual output. BBC Sport says the England captain scored 73 goals across club and country in the season under discussion, with 61 for Bayern Munich and 12 for England. Bayern won the Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal, while England finished third at the World Cup. The article also notes that Bayern were knocked out of the Champions League in the semi-finals, which removes one of the usual advantages enjoyed by past winners.

The piece places Kane among a strong field that could include Rodri, Lamine Yamal, Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi, Erling Haaland, Michael Olise, Declan Rice and Jude Bellingham. It says Rodri and Mbappe are among the most obvious rivals, while Yamal’s season included both club success and a World Cup medal.

If Kane were to win, BBC Sport says he would become only the fifth Englishman to receive the Ballon d’Or and the first player from a Bundesliga club to do so since Matthias Sammer in 1996. The report’s broader point is that voters must weigh individual scoring against the award’s strong preference for players tied to major trophies.