Kane becomes first Ballon d’Or winner left out of FIFPRO World 11 since 2005
Abdullateef Fowewe
Harry Kane has made unwanted history after being omitted from the 2026 FIFPRO World 11, becoming the first Ballon d’Or winner since the players’ award began in 2005 to miss out on the Team of the Year in the same season.
The Bayern Munich and England striker, crowned the world’s best player just two weeks earlier, finished fifth among forwards with 27.6% of the votes cast by nearly 20,000 professional footballers.
He was edged out by Kylian Mbappé, Lamine Yamal, Lionel Messi and Erling Haaland, who took the four forward spots in the XI.
The FIFPRO World 11 is decided exclusively by professional players.
This year’s ballot involved 19,806 male professionals from dozens of countries, who assessed performances between 4 August 2025 and 19 July 2026.
Kane had been included on the shortlist of finalists but failed to secure enough peer support for one of the forward berths.
The selected attack featured Real Madrid’s Mbappé, Barcelona’s Yamal, Inter Miami’s Messi and Manchester City’s Haaland.
Other notable absentees from the shortlist included Kane’s Bayern teammate Michael Olise and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Kane claimed the 2026 Ballon d’Or in late October after a record-breaking campaign.
The 33-year-old scored 73 goals for club and country across all competitions, helping Bayern Munich to domestic silverware while finishing as the Bundesliga’s top scorer for a third successive season.
His haul made him the first English winner of the award since Michael Owen in 2001 and the first Bayern player to lift the trophy since Karl-Heinz Rummenigge in 1981.
He finished ahead of Mbappé and Yamal in the journalists’ vote for the Ballon d’Or, with Messi placing fifth.