Wembley lit gold to honour Harry Kane as Thomas Tuchel sends Ballon d'Or winner message

The former Tottenham striker beat Kylian Mbappe and Lamine Yamal in a tense three-way battle to be crowned the best on the planet, but he was voted by 100 football journalists from the top-ranked countries as the first English recipient of the Golden Ball since Michael Owen in 2001. Kane played a key part in England’s run to the semi-finals of the World Cup last summer, but he was powerless as the Three Lions were eliminated in the dying embers of their last-four encounter with Argentina. The forward netted six times en route to the final four, but he did not find the net in either the quarters or the semis, before England defeated France in the third-place play-off. England boss Thomas Tuchel, not present at the Palladium, also released a message of congratulations to his No9. “Congratulations Harry on a deserved Ballon d’Or,” the German said. “I ran out of superlatives to describe your performances a long time ago, but I’m delighted to see that you have now been formally recognised by the football world. To become the first Englishman to win this huge honour in 25 years makes it extra special and we are lucky to have you as our leader. “I know you will enjoy this moment with your loved ones and then get back to doing what you do best – scoring goals and winning football matches.”