Harry Kane joins elite group to win Ballon d’Or and European Golden Shoe in same season

Harry Kane has become the latest player to claim both the Ballon d’Or and the European Golden Shoe in the same season following his 2025-26 campaign with Bayern Munich, with the Ballon d’Or awarded in 2026; he finished that season with 73 goals across club and country.

The Ballon d’Or is presented annually to the best-performing footballer from the previous season, and goalscoring has long been a dominant factor in the award’s outcomes; only eight occasions have seen the Ballon d’Or winner also finish as Europe’s top scorer in the top five leagues. Strikers have historically featured heavily among winners of the Ballon d’Or, which helps explain the overlap with the European Golden Shoe on those rare occasions; Kane is only the fifth different player to complete the double.

Gerd Müller was the first footballer to achieve both honours in the same season, doing so in 1969-70 when he scored 38 Bundesliga goals and was named Europe’s top scorer and winner of the Ballon d’Or.

Ronaldo Nazário achieved the double in 1996-97 while at FC Barcelona, scoring 34 LaLiga goals that season despite Barcelona finishing behind Real Madrid in the league, and subsequently winning the 1997 Ballon d’Or.

Cristiano Ronaldo became the first player to complete the double more than once, first doing so in 2007-08 when he scored 31 Premier League goals for Manchester United to win the European Golden Shoe alongside his first Ballon d’Or, and again in 2013-14 when he shared the LaLiga top-scorer award with Luis Suarez on 31 goals.

Lionel Messi has achieved the Ballon d’Or–Golden Shoe double three times for FC Barcelona: 34 LaLiga goals in 2009-10, a 50-goal LaLiga season in 2011-12 that remains a single-season record, and 36 goals in 2018-19; Messi has won the European Golden Shoe six times, the most in history.

Kane’s 2025-26 figures included 36 Bundesliga goals as Bayern won the league, 73 goals in total for club and country, the 2026 Ballon d’Or (his first), and what the report describes as his second European Golden Shoe, placing him alongside the sport’s most prolific scorers.

Five players have completed the Ballon d’Or and European Golden Shoe double in the same season: Gerd Müller, Ronaldo Nazário, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Harry Kane.