){kind=small}
LaLiga){kind=small}
RSO
){kind=logo}
OVI
){kind=small}
Serie A){kind=logo}
JUV
){kind=small}
COMO
){kind=small}
Bundesl){kind=logo}
KOE
){kind=logo}
TSG
){kind=small}
FCB
){kind=logo}
SGE
){kind=logo}
FCU
){kind=logo}
B04
){kind=logo}
WOB
){kind=logo}
FCA
){kind=small}
Premier){kind=small}
AVL
){kind=logo}
LEE
){kind=small}
BRE
){kind=logo}
BHA
){kind=logo}
CHE
){kind=small}
BUR
){kind=small}
NPFL){kind=logo}
WWF
){kind=small}
WIK
){kind=small}
RST
){kind=logo}
BET
){kind=small}
RAY
){kind=small}
Ligue 1){kind=logo}
LENS
){kind=small}
ASM
){kind=logo}
LEC
){kind=small}
INT
){kind=small}
RBL
){kind=small}
BVB
){kind=small}
WHU
){kind=small}
BOU
){kind=small}
OSA
){kind=logo}
RMA
){kind=small}
TFC
){kind=logo}
PAR
){kind=logo}
CGL
){kind=small}
LAZ
){kind=small}
MCI
){kind=logo}
NEW
AFCON 2025
)
A former Liverpool and Real Madrid star, Michael Owen, discussed Harry Kane and the Ballon d'Or.
Former England national team striker Michael Owen said that an incredible scoring campaign plus triumph in the Bundesliga is not enough to win the Ballon d'Or, stating that Kane needed to add the UCL plus a strong performance in the World Cup for the Three Lions.
Kane and the Ballon d’Or
Kane has been among the most consistently elite forwards of his generation. He scored 41 goals in 51 appearances for Bayern Munich in the 2024/25 season, finishing as Bundesliga top scorer with 26 league goals and helping Bayern win the German Bundesliga title. Yet he has never done better than 10th (achieved thrice: 2024, 2017, 2018)
Kane’s Ballon d’Or history shows a pattern of strong seasons but modest rankings: 13th in 2025, 10th in 2024, 19th in 2023, 21st in 2022 and 23rd in 2021, despite averaging over 30 goals a season and setting records such as becoming the fastest player in Europe’s top five leagues to reach 20 goal contributions in under 900 minutes in 2024/25.
)
What Owen said
Former Ballon d’Or winner Michael Owen (2001) has argued that Kane needs not only elite personal statistics but also major trophies (like a Champions League or World Cup), saying players must be part of exceptional teams to win the award, a rubric Owen himself fulfilled in his 2001 campaign with Liverpool, where he scored 24 goals in 46 games and helped the club win the UEFA Cup, FA Cup and League Cup.
"I use the phrase perfect storm. Ballon d’Or is a perfect storm scenario; you need to be having an exceptional season yourself and be in an exceptional team, or at least a winning team. All of that helps and gives you a huge advantage,” he said, per Goal.
)
"Bayern Munich are going to win the league; they are miles clear. If they won the Champions League and he had a decent World Cup, then absolutely, Harry Kane would have a chance of picking up that prize. It’s just ifs and buts.
"In World Cup year, a lot depends on who wins the World Cup. That is going to carry so much weight. Somebody can have an average season, but if they are top scorer at the World Cup and score the winner in the final, it’s pretty hard to argue that they haven’t just contributed to the ultimate prize of all time, and that’s going to carry a lot of weight. If he stays fit and healthy and does well, and his team are good, then of course he has got a big chance."