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Putellas wins Ballon d'Or as Barcelona dominate women's awards

London City Lionesses and Spain star Alexia Putellas has won the Ballon d'Or for a third time after seeing off competition from former Barcelona teammates Ewa Pajor and Patri Guijarro.

Liverpool 'optimistic' over Wirtz injury recovery

Liverpool boss Andoni Iraola has said he is "optimistic" Florian Wirtz will be fit to feature in Wednesday's Carabao Cup clash with Chelsea.

How Kane's Ballon d'Or win could boost the Bundesliga

Harry Kane's Ballon d'Or win not only ended a 25-year wait for an English winner of the award but also saw a Bundesliga player win it for the first time since 1996.

Chinese brands drop Mbappe as backlash grows over Mao joke

The France star had referred to the former Chinese leader as a "dictator" during an interview about memes.

Exclusive: From Pro Patria to the World: Estrella’s new model for running football clubs

This past July, Pro Patria became the first Italian club Estrella Football Group acquired: Football...

How 'anti-superstar' Kane defied doubters to become world's best

Harry Kane is the humble 'anti-superstar' who defied doubters to achieve Ballon d'Or greatness, says chief football writer Phil McNulty.

Alexia Putellas a worthy Ballon d’Or winner but the limited shortlist illustrates flaws

Neglect of African football and a third win for the Spanish great does little to challenge narrative that the prize is reserved only for top nations’ players After a four-year wait, Alexia Putellas is the queen of women’s football once again. Receiving the Ballon d’Or for a record‑equalling third time to continue Spain’s domination of the award, the 32-year-old reinforces her status as one of the greatest players of all time. It was the sixth consecutive year in which the honour went to either Putellas or her international teammate Aitana Bonmatí, and it was symbolic of Putellas’s resurgence after her comeback from the anterior cruciate ligament injury she sustained in 2022, her refusal to surrender her career to that setback, and her majestic rise back to the top. Continue reading...

Kylian Mbappé apologises after being dropped by Chinese brands for Mao Zedong comment

Video appears to show Mao Zedong called a ‘dictator’ Dongpeng and Mengniu end deals with the player Kylian Mbappé has apologised after the Real Madrid forward was dropped by major Chinese brands for apparently joking about Mao Zedong in a video that has gone viral. There were also signs of broader repercussions, with the state-run Chinese digital newspaper The Paper reporting that public television was suspending broadcasts of matches from La Liga. The offending video shows Mbappé saying that the funniest internet meme he had seen involving him was of his face photoshopped on to that of “some guy – I think he’s a Chinese dictator”. This was an apparent reference to a meme of Mbappé superimposed on an image of Mao. Continue reading...

Team success, the ‘Bundesliga tax’ and the World Cup: three takeaways from the 2026 Ballon d’Or

There was plenty to learn from this year’s ceremony in London as Harry Kane took home the top honor It was an awards show that, as Michael Owen admitted, could have been a phone call – as it was in 2001 when he won. A quarter-century on, a ballroom full of footballers, power brokers, a gravity-defying dancer and a handful of heckling rabble-rousers plodded through a three-hour slog of a ceremony. Aside from a reminder to viewers at home just how precious our free time is, what could be gleaned from the men’s element of the Ballon d’Or ceremony? Continue reading...

Kane’s Ballon d’Or triumph a glorious riposte to celebrity fawning of ceremony | Barney Ronay

The England captain spoke movingly on a night of deserving winners and unintentional hilarity in London Well, there’s something new. Football: now available in new, genuinely heartwarming flavour. There was a lovely moment at London’s Palladium theatre on Monday, with the clock creeping towards 11pm at the end of a startlingly shrill and bloated evening of never‑ending awards and never-ending award‑related excitement. Continue reading...

Carabao Cup: Arsenal should unleash Dowman as Liverpool-Chelsea clash

Bayern Munich's Harry Kane wins 2026 Ballon d'Or

Bayern Munich’s Harry Kane has become the first Bundesliga player to win the coveted Ballon d’Or in three decades after seeing off competition from some of football’s biggest names to win the 2026 award.

2026 Ballon d'Or recap: Kane, Putellas take top awards

It was a great night as Harry Kane won the men's award and Alexia Putellas won a third Ballon d'Or Feminin.

Sources: Mbappé's Madrid end Ballon d'Or boycott

Real Madrid will have representation at the Ballon d'Or award again, with Kylian Mbappé leading the team's delegation at the event, sources have told ESPN.

Will an American woman ever again be the world's best player?

After years of dominance, USWNT players no longer land as finalists -- let alone win -- major awards such as the Ballon d'Or.

All the 2026 Ballon d'Or winners as Spain and Barcelona dominate...

All the 2026 Ballon d'Or winners as Spain and Barcelona dominate...

Putellas wins record-equalling third Ballon d'Or to extend Spanish dominance

Barcelona and Spain midfielder Alexia Putellas wins the Ballon d'Or Feminin for a record-equalling third time.