Harry Kane said the Ballon d'Or ceremony in London felt nothing like a match. Speaking after the event, the Bayern München striker said he was nervous before Ronaldo Nazario announced his name, then overwhelmed when the winner was revealed.

Kane's reaction in London

"I was nervous. Really. My heart was beating very fast," Harry Kane told Foot Mercato, in comments translated from French. "It is very different from the stress one feels before a big match where one knows one can influence the result by playing well or scoring. There, I simply had to wait for the moment."

He also said, "When he said my name, all the emotions came at the same time: relief, happiness... I did not really know how to react. I was completely overwhelmed. I had never experienced that before."

That reaction fits the way he described the award elsewhere too. On SPORT1, Kane said he still had not fully realised what was happening to him and that events like this, with Cristiano Ronaldo, Messi and other greats in the room, help show what it means.

The season moments he pointed to

Kane did not frame the award as a single isolated night. He pointed to his hat-trick in the DFB Pokal final against VfB Stuttgart as one of his biggest performances, and he also highlighted England's 2-1 win against Congo DR in the World Cup knockout round.

Those games were part of why his season case carried weight. He scored 6 goals in 7 World Cup appearances across 670 minutes, added 1 assist, and in the Bundesliga he recorded 4 goals and 5 assists in 7 appearances. In the Champions League, he had 4 goals and 2 assists in 3 games.

The wider vote context was tight enough to keep the debate alive. SPORT1 reported that Kane beat Kylian Mbappé by 28 points, while 100 journalists were eligible to vote and each ranked ten players. Karl-Heinz Wild said he had Rodri above Kane in his own ranking, while Dietmar Hamann argued there probably was not an outstanding player this year.

Kane has the award now, and the next thing to watch is how he carries that season form into the rest of his campaign with Bayern.

Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 3 outlets. How we work →