In 2013, Harry Kane was a 19-year-old struggling to make an impact on loan at Leicester City. His confidence was so low that he questioned whether he would ever establish himself in the Premier League, let alone become one of the world’s best strikers.

Thirteen years on, those doubts seem almost unthinkable. Kane has claimed the 2026 Ballon d’Or after a sensational season for Bayern Munich and England, adding the game’s most coveted individual prize to a career that has delivered goals, records and, finally, major team honours.

But his road to the top was anything but straightforward.

Leicester low point before Tottenham breakthrough

Born in Walthamstow, east London, on 28 July 1993, Kane joined Tottenham Hotspur’s academy after a brief spell at Arsenal as a youngster. Yet breaking into senior football proved far from easy.

Loan spells at Leyton Orient and Millwall gave him valuable experience, but subsequent moves to Norwich City and Leicester City brought fresh challenges. It was at Leicester, during the second half of the 2012-13 season, that Kane hit what he would later describe as one of the lowest points of his career.

Struggling to win regular minutes behind Chris Wood and David Nugent, he watched Leicester’s promotion hopes end in play-off heartbreak against Watford. For Kane, the bigger concern was what the setback meant for his own future.

In his 2018 Players’ Tribune essay, Zero to 100, he reflected on the doubts that crept in during that spell. If he could not establish himself in the Championship, he wondered, how could he possibly become a regular in the Premier League?

The answer came through persistence. Kane returned to Spurs in 2013 and continued to work towards his breakthrough.

Under Mauricio Pochettino, his career took off in the 2014-15 season, when he struck 31 goals in all competitions and announced himself as a force to be reckoned with.

That was just the beginning. Kane went on to win the Premier League Golden Boot three times, developing into far more than a penalty-box finisher.

His intelligent movement, aerial strength, passing range and willingness to drop deep made him one of the most complete forwards in the game.

He eventually became Spurs’ all-time leading goalscorer, cementing his place among the club’s greats. Yet one prize continued to elude him: a major team trophy. Even a run to the 2019 Champions League final ended in disappointment, as Tottenham lost to Liverpool.

England captain and record goalscorer

If Kane became a talisman in north London, his importance to England was just as clear.

He claimed the Golden Boot at the 2018 World Cup, leading the line as the Three Lions reached the semi-finals, before captaining his country to the Euro 2020 final.

In March 2023, he moved past Wayne Rooney to become England’s all-time leading men’s goalscorer, adding another landmark to an already extraordinary career.

Euro 2024 brought another Golden Boot, shared with five other players, but once again the final ended in defeat, this time against Spain. For Kane, the familiar frustration remained: personal success without the ultimate team reward.

His desire to compete for the biggest honours had already prompted an attempted move to Manchester City in 2021, only for the transfer to fall through.

Two more seasons in north London followed before he finally made his move, joining Bayern Munich in August 2023.

It was a fresh start at one of Europe’s biggest clubs, and Kane wasted little time making his mark. He became the focal point of Bayern’s attack, combining his trademark finishing with the link-up play and vision that made him so much more than a conventional number nine.

Bayern move delivers the missing silverware

Bayern’s Bundesliga triumph in 2025 finally brought Kane the major team trophy that had proved so elusive. After years of individual accolades and near misses, he had his first major piece of senior club silverware.

And he was far from finished.

Kane produced a remarkable 2025-26 campaign, scoring 61 goals for Bayern and 12 for England. His fine finishing helped Bayern win the Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal and Franz Beckenbauer Supercup. The German champions also reached the Champions League semi-finals, losing to eventual winners Paris Saint-Germain, with Kane netting in both legs.

His goalscoring feats continued to rewrite the record books. In February 2026, a brace against Werder Bremen took him to 500 goals in official senior matches for club and country, making him the first Englishman to reach that milestone.

Kane’s 36 Bundesliga goals secured the league’s top-scorer award for a third consecutive season, while his exploits across the campaign also earned him the European Golden Shoe. Week after week, he showed that his appetite for goals had lost none of its edge.

He carried that form onto the international stage, too. With six goals at the 2026 World Cup, Kane helped England secure bronze - their best finish since lifting the trophy in 1966.

There was another landmark on his return to Wembley, where he equalled Peter Shilton’s record of 125 England appearances in a 3-0 win over the Czech Republic. Kane marked the occasion in fitting fashion, scoring twice to take his international tally to 91 goals.

The numbers are remarkable, but they tell only part of the story. It is the blend of ruthless finishing, all-round contribution, team silverware and influence on the international stage that makes Kane’s Ballon d’Or-winning season so compelling.

Kane ends England’s Ballon d’Or wait

Kane’s triumph also ends a long wait for English football. He is the first English winner of the men’s Ballon d’Or since Michael Owen claimed the award in 2001, following a memorable year in which the Liverpool forward helped his club win the League Cup, FA Cup and UEFA Cup.

Others have come close in the years since. Frank Lampard finished second and Steven Gerrard third in 2005, behind Ronaldinho, while Jude Bellingham came third in 2024 after a sensational first season at Real Madrid.

Now, Kane has gone one better.

His victory ends a 25-year wait for an English winner and recognises a career built on consistency, adaptability and an unrelenting desire to improve. From the uncertainty of his Leicester loan to becoming Tottenham’s record goalscorer and finally lifting major trophies with Bayern, he has repeatedly overcome setbacks to reach another level.

At 33, Kane has reached the summit of the individual game. The teenager who once wondered whether he belonged in the Premier League now stands as the Ballon d’Or winner - a fitting reward for a career in which persistence has proved just as important as talent.