Emmanuel Petit has taken a hard line on Harry Kane's Ballon d'Or hopes. The former France midfielder says the Bayern München striker can keep scoring, but his lack of decisive impact in the Champions League and with England leaves him outside the real race.

Petit's case against Kane

Petit did not leave much room for ambiguity in his comments to goal.com. "Harry Kane's Ballon d'Or chances are over," he said. "If you base that only on the German league, okay, no problem at all. But in the Champions League and with the national team, when it started to be really hard to win, I think he disappeared." He added that Kane "didn't have an impact in the big games, just like in the Champions League," and said "there are a few names ahead of him."

That is a fair criticism to a point, because the Ballon d'Or is not just a scoring competition. Petit also pointed to Lamine Yamal and Rodri as stronger options, which tells you where he thinks the award race is headed.

Why the Kane case still has weight

The problem with writing Kane off completely is that his output at Bayern München remains absurdly strong. He has 146 goals in 147 appearances since joining from Tottenham in 2023, which is the sort of return that keeps him in the conversation even when the voting debate turns to big-game influence.

Bayern are also set to open formal talks over a new contract, with his current deal due to expire at the end of next season. The club line from the article says he has helped them win two Bundesliga titles and the DFB-Pokal, and Bayern's latest league finish was 89 points at the top of the Bundesliga.

There is a genuine split here. Petit is leaning hard on the Champions League and England argument, but Kane's overall production at club level is still elite enough that this is not a clean dismissal. He scored 6 goals in 7 World Cup appearances, and that is not the profile of a player who simply vanishes on the biggest stage, even if critics want more from the defining moments.

William Gallas made a similar point in a separate quote, saying Kane did not have a great World Cup and adding, "So, forget about Harry Kane winning the Ballon d'Or." The pushback remains clear enough. The output is still too strong to ignore, but Petit's view is that the award will go elsewhere unless Kane changes the biggest-game conversation.

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