Kane wins, four Bayern players ranked – but no Germany international in the top 30
Four Munich players feature in the 2026 Ballon d’Or ranking, but none from Jürgen Klopp's national team. For the first time since 2021, no German was nominated.
Symbolic image · Photo: Ank Kumar / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped and resized)
Bayern striker Harry Kane won the 2026 Ballon d’Or in London on Monday evening. According to t-online, he is the first Bundesliga player since Matthias Sammer in 1996 to receive the award. The published full ranking of the 30 nominees includes four Bayern players: Kane, Michael Olise (9th), Luis Díaz (24th) and Dayot Upamecano (26th).
There is, however, no Germany international on the list. When the nominees were announced in September, ran had already pointed out that, for the first time since 2021, no German was among the candidates. The commentator saw no reason for national coach Jürgen Klopp to celebrate, arguing that the Munich-based internationals had failed to convince at the World Cup and in key Champions League games.
Klopp's team continue in the Nations League in November: on 13 November against Serbia in Belgrade and on 16 November against the Netherlands in Berlin. Germany are third in Group A2 with five points, three behind the Netherlands and Greece.