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Harry Kane has added another major honour to his collection after the Bayern Munich striker was named Germany's Footballer of the Year for 2026. The England international finished ahead of his Bayern team-mate Michael Olise in the annual vote organised by Kicker magazine, which included hundreds of members of the German sports journalists' association.

Strong backing from the voters

Kane was chosen after an outstanding 2025-26 season on the pitch. The Bayern forward scored 61 goals in all competitions last season. That tally included a clinical hat-trick in the German Cup final that overwhelmed the opposition and delivered the trophy to his club. He also played a key role as Bayern retained their Bundesliga title and reached the Champions League semi-finals, where they were eventually beaten by Paris Saint-Germain, who later went on to lift the trophy.

Kane received 272 votes from the 695 active voters, finishing ahead of Olise, who collected 203 votes, and in doing so became the first English player to win the award. Kicker reported that VfB Stuttgart forward Deniz Undav polled 61 votes, while Bayern's Joshua Kimmich and Hoffenheim goalkeeper Oliver Baumann received 21 and 14 votes respectively.

Praise from club officials

Bayern sporting director Max Eberl spoke about the striker's influence on the team in an official club statement. Eberl said he was running out of words to praise the star forward. He added that finding the right way to describe Kane is almost impossible because of the consistently high standard of his performances.

"It’s almost impossible to find the right superlatives to describe Harry Kane – sometimes I’m at a loss for words," Eberl said in a statement. "He’s already been named England’s Footballer of the Year, and now he’s also won it in Germany."

Bayern collected two awards

It was a successful campaign across the club. Bayern manager Vincent Kompany won the Coach of the Year award. Kompany secured nearly half of all the votes from the media panel. He finished ahead of Freiburg coach Julian Schuster to claim the honour. Bayern right-back Giulia Gwinn also won the top award in the women's category.

The Footballer of the Year award has been handed out since 1960, while the coach's award has been presented since 2002. Franz Beckenbauer holds the record for the most player awards with four, while Jurgen Klopp and Felix Magath have each won the coach's prize three times.

What comes next?

Kane has carried that form into the new season. He helped Bayern win the domestic Supercup on Saturday with a 2-1 victory over Borussia Dortmund. Although Kane did not score in that particular match, his leadership helped drive the side on. His excellent displays have also led pundits to view him as a leading contender for the Ballon d'Or. The prestigious individual awards ceremony is due to take place in London on October 26.