Harry Kane’s 2026 Ballon d’Or has given the story of English players abroad a new landmark. On 26 October, the Bayern Munich striker became the first Englishman to win the award since Michael Owen in 2001.
His victory also brings the story back to Kevin Keegan. Nearly half a century after Keegan won football’s most prestigious individual prize twice while playing for Hamburg, another England forward has reached that stage from a German club.
Success overseas takes different forms: winning European trophies, becoming a league’s outstanding player, rebuilding a career or establishing a place in a new football culture. These ten English footballers offer different versions of that journey, with Kane’s latest achievement providing a fresh starting point.
Updated 30 October 2026 following Harry Kane’s Ballon d’Or win.
1. Harry Kane (Bayern Munich): A Ballon d’Or Winner Abroad
When Harry Kane left Tottenham for Bayern Munich in 2023, he was already England’s record goalscorer and one of the Premier League’s leading forwards. Moving at 30 meant proving himself in a new country after building his career at Spurs.
The first season offered a warning against expecting instant rewards. Bayern finished 2023/24 without a trophy as Bayer Leverkusen won the Bundesliga. Kane’s goals had travelled with him; the silverware initially had not.
By 2025/26, the picture had changed. He scored 61 goals for Bayern and 73 for club and country, with the Bundesliga title and DFB-Pokal among his team honours. Those totals, confirmed by England Football, put his eventual individual recognition in context.
On 26 October 2026, the 33-year-old won the men’s Ballon d’Or ahead of Kylian Mbappé and Lamine Yamal. As well as ending England’s 25-year wait, he became Bayern’s first winner since Karl-Heinz Rummenigge in 1981, a milestone celebrated in the club’s official announcement.
Kane’s acceptance speech after winning the 2026 award. Video: Ballon d’Or.
The award recognised his performances for both club and country, so it should not be reduced to a reward for changing leagues. Even so, Munich has become the setting for an important expansion of his career: team trophies, sustained scoring and now the game’s highest individual honour.
That makes Kane a particularly striking example of an established English star succeeding abroad later in his career. His move was a new challenge taken at an age when many players would have been content to stay with what they knew.
2. Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid & Dortmund)
If you need the perfect example of “leaving early to succeed”, look no further than Jude Bellingham. Instead of joining a Premier League giant at 17, Jude chose Borussia Dortmund. In Germany, his character was forged in fire, eventually becoming the youngest captain in the club’s history.
But the peak truly arrived when he landed at Real Madrid in the summer of 2023. In his very first season, Bellingham turned the Santiago Bernabéu into his own personal playground.
With the La Liga Player of the Year award, a Champions League trophy, and a La Liga title, Jude proved that an English player can absolutely become the leader of the greatest club in the world.
3. Kevin Keegan (Hamburger SV)
Kevin Keegan joined Hamburger SV from Liverpool in 1977, already a European Cup winner. His early difficulties in Germany make the success that followed more significant: even an established star had to adapt to new teammates and a different environment.
He won the Ballon d’Or in both 1978 and 1979 during his Hamburg spell, helped the club become Bundesliga champions in 1978/79 and reached the European Cup final in 1980.
Kane’s 2026 triumph gives that history a new companion. Both English forwards won the award while playing in Germany, but Keegan remains the only Englishman to have won it twice. The Bundesliga’s roll of honour now includes both men.
4. David Beckham (Real Madrid, LA Galaxy, Milan, PSG)
Beckham was not just a player; he was a cultural phenomenon.
When he left Man Utd for Real Madrid in 2003, he ushered in a new era for English exports. Although his early days in Madrid were turbulent, Beckham ended his Spanish journey with an emotional La Liga title.
Later, his odyssey to LA Galaxy (USA), AC Milan (Italy), and PSG (France) made him the first English player to win league titles in four different countries. Beckham proved that an Englishman could be both a world-class footballer and a brand icon with global influence.
5. Gary Lineker (Barcelona)
After winning the Golden Boot at the 1986 World Cup, Gary Lineker joined Barcelona under Terry Venables. There, he wrote his name into the history books of El Clásico with a hat-trick against Real Madrid – a feat very few foreign players have ever achieved.
Lineker scored 42 league goals in 103 league appearances for Barça, winning the Copa del Rey and the Cup Winners’ Cup. His goals and the trophies he helped win secured his place among the English players in Barcelona’s history.
6. Steve McManaman (Real Madrid)
Leaving Liverpool to join Real Madrid on a free transfer in 1999, McManaman made a truly historic leap. While many English players historically struggled with cultural adaptation in Spain, he quickly embraced the lifestyle and became an indispensable part of the team, even as the club began aggressively building their “Galácticos” empire.
His crowning moment came in the 2000 Champions League final against Valencia, where he scored a stunning, acrobatic volley to seal the victory. Securing two Champions League trophies and two La Liga titles during his time at the Bernabéu, McManaman shattered stereotypes and earned immense respect from the notoriously demanding Madrid crowd, cementing his legacy as one of their most successful foreign imports.
7. Jadon Sancho (Borussia Dortmund)
Before Bellingham, it was Jadon Sancho who bravely left Man City for Dortmund at age 17. Sancho’s dazzling success in Germany, with a flurry of goals and assists, created a “domino effect”.
Sancho proved to young English talent that instead of sitting on the bench in the Premier League, the Bundesliga is the promised land for development. Although his time at United had its ups and downs, what Sancho displayed in the yellow and black shirt remains the gold standard for English players flourishing abroad.
8. Chris Smalling (AS Roma)
Once the butt of jokes at Old Trafford, Chris Smalling found redemption at AS Roma. In Serie A, where the pace is slower and positional intelligence is prized, Smalling experienced a powerful renaissance.
Roma fans loved him so much they dubbed him “Smalldini” (a portmanteau with the legendary Maldini). The 2022 UEFA Conference League title was a fitting reward for Smalling’s courage to change environments and rediscover himself.
9. Owen Hargreaves (Bayern Munich)
Unlike the other nine, Hargreaves didn’t “go abroad” – he was born in Canada and came through the Bayern Munich academy. He was a strange breed of English player: possessing the discipline of a German and the fighting spirit of an Englishman.
With 4 Bundesliga titles and 1 Champions League with Bayern, Hargreaves is statistically one of the most successful English players in terms of trophies won on foreign soil.
10. Glenn Hoddle (AS Monaco)
Arsène Wenger once called Glenn Hoddle a genius. When Hoddle moved to AS Monaco in 1987, he mesmerized French audiences with impossible passes and exquisite individual technique.
Arsène Wenger (centre) with new signings Mark Hateley (left) and Glenn Hoddle (right). Image: Getty
He helped Monaco win Ligue 1 and was voted the Best Foreign Player in the league. In an era when English football was still obsessed with “kick and rush”, Hoddle at Monaco was the most beautiful image of a British artist conquering the hearts of football purists in France.
What Kane’s Ballon d’Or Adds to the Story
Keegan and Kane give this list its most obvious connection: two English forwards who became Ballon d’Or winners while playing in Germany. The other careers show how much wider success abroad can be.
Bellingham made an early move to develop. Beckham won league titles in several countries. McManaman contributed to European Cup victories, while Smalling found a rewarding new chapter in Italy. Hargreaves followed a different route altogether, developing outside England before representing the national team.
Kane’s 2026 award adds a major new achievement to that history. It also makes this a useful moment to revisit the players who built successful careers beyond English football, each finding an environment in which their talent could flourish.
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