England star Kane was a popular winner of the 70th Ballon d'Or at a ceremony at London Palladium, with enormous cheers when former Brazil forward Ronaldo read out his name.
A stunning 2025-26 campaign where Kane scored 73 goals for club and country, won two trophies with Bayern Munich and led England to third place at the World Cup, helped the 33-year-old beat Kylian Mbappe and Lamine Yamal to the prestigious award.
It made Kane the first English player since Michael Owen in 2001 to receive the accolade from France Football and added another chapter to a remarkable journey, which started with rejection by Arsenal and multiple difficult loan spells before a late breakthrough at boyhood club Tottenham.
After Kane followed in the footsteps of fellow English winners Stanley Matthews, Bobby Charlton, Kevin Keegan and Owen in sealing Ballon d'Or glory, he vowed to aim to retain the trophy in 12 months' time.
"My heart was beating fast and I was just hoping he would say my name. I mean, what a legend, Ronaldo was one of my idols growing up, so for him to be the one to present me the award, it's a dream come true," Kane said.
"Honestly just so many amazing feelings and to share these moments with my friends and with my family who are here. Yeah, I would say it's a dream come true, but it's beyond my wildest dreams.
"I spoke about my doctor Alejandro (Elorriaga Claraco). We work so much together.
"We spend so much time alone, in the room, on a treatment table, with needles, all those sacrifices, saunas, ice baths, time that I would love to spend with my kids, with my family, with my wife, but it's all part of the dedication.
"To be at the very top level, you have to sacrifice some time and some things so this trophy is reward for all those people in my life."
Kane said he still trained and played like he was a teenager "with a point to prove".
"Yeah, that's got me to winning this amazing trophy. Even now, winning this, already I am thinking about, 'OK, let's see if we can be even better and let's see if I can win it again?'" he said.
"And that will always be my mindset until the day I choose to retire."
Kane planned to enjoy his Ballon d'Or victory with family and friends but had no plans for a "messy" night, with a flight back to Munich booked for Tuesday morning before Bayern's afternoon training ahead of Wednesday's DFB-Pokal tie with Magdeburg.
The former Spurs forward also batted off a question about an eventual return to England to chase Alan Shearer's Premier League scoring record, stating "not right now, I'm loving life at Bayern".
9°C