Harry Kane broke a decades-long drought to become the first English player to win the prestigious Ballon d'Or in 25 years. At the recently held ceremony in London, UK, Kane won the Ballon d'Or due to his impressive performance in the last season for his club, Bayern Munich, and his national team, England.

Kane has now joined Michael Owen, who was the last player from England to receive the prestigious individual accolade in 2001. Kane's incredible 73 goals for club and country also earned him the award from French magazine France Football.

Kane, a hometown hero, has followed in the footsteps of Sir Stanley Matthews, Sir Bobby Charlton, Kevin Keegan and Owen as a Ballon d'Or winner from England. Kane beat Real Madrid striker and French captain Kylian Mbappe and Barcelona's Lamine Yamal to the award.

“Wow, I'm almost speechless,” an emotional Kane said while receiving the trophy. “First of all, thanks again to France Football and the Ballon d'Or for this amazing event. Being in London, it is extra special; it felt like a good omen.”

“It's just the journey. For any young boy or girl who wants to achieve their dream, anything is possible. I hope my journey, it wasn't straightforward, I didn't go straight to the top, I had to experience a lot of loan moves and fight my way to get to where I am now. I hope that can give you inspiration, and thank you very much,” Kane said while also paying gratitude to his current and former club, Bayern Munich and Tottenham Hotspur.

Later, the English captain also came online and dropped a short tweet to celebrate his achievement. “Work hard in silence. Let success be your noise,” he wrote on social media. An extremely well-deserved achievement, Kane scored 61 goals in 51 club matches last season, which is also the highest a Bayern Munich player has ever scored in one campaign. He also captained the English team to the semi-finals of the World Cup.

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