Harry Kane has said he should be in the conversation for the Ballon d’Or award if England are successful at the World Cup this summer.
Kane had one of the best individual seasons in Europe, scoring 61 goals in 51 appearances for Bayern Munich across all competitions.
He also helped Bayern successfully defend the Bundesliga title and complete a domestic cup double, scoring a hat-trick in the DFB-Pokal final win over Stuttgart.
Bayern did fall short in the semi-finals of the Champions league to eventual winners Paris Saint-Germain, but as an individual, Kane has put forward his case as the best striker in world football on current form.
Kane, now preparing to take part in a third World Cup, is hoping to carry England to glory in North America and potentially put himself in the running to claim the 2026 Ballon d’Or award.
"I'd probably say I'll be up there, for sure,” Kane told L’Equipe.
"With the season I've had, with winning the trophies and the numbers I've reached, I think I'll be in that conversation.
"If I win the World Cup on top of that... you would imagine it would be one of the England players.
"When you look at some of the past winners of the Ballon d'Or, for sure it comes down to the big games, the big tournaments, and you add that on top of what I've achieved this year, I think I'll be up there."
World Cup success will no doubt have a major part to play in deciding who walks away with the most prestigious individual award in football, other favourites for the award include Declan Rice, Michael Olise, Lamine Yamal and current holder Ousmane Dembele.
All of these players will also be competing at the World Cup and of the last seven Ballon d’Ors awarded in a world cup year - four of them went to a winner - Zinedine Zidane (1998), Ronaldo Nazario (2002), Fabio Cannavaro (2006) and Lionel Messi (2022).
But Kane, despite these indicators, doesn’t want to talk his way into a Ballon d’Or.
"So it's been an incredible season,” Kane explained. “But I'm not the type of guy who wants to say I deserve the Ballon d'Or. I try and do my talking on the pitch."
