Former Chelsea midfielder Joe Cole has picked out four English players who could follow Harry Kane by winning the Ballon d'Or. Speaking on TNT Sport ahead of Chelsea facing Manchester United at home, the former Blues star argued that the England captain has "opened the door" after becoming the first Englishman to lift the prize in 25 years.

Kane secured the award ahead of Lamine Yamal and Kylian Mbappe after netting 73 goals across campaigns for Bayern Munich and England. The sport's main individual accolade had previously seen dominance from Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo over the past 18 years. Following Kane becoming the third distinct winner in three years and the first English recipient since Michael Owen in 2001, Cole expressed hope that others might emulate him.

When questioned on potential future winners, Cole mentioned Jude Bellingham, Cole Palmer, Morgan Rogers, and 16-year-old Max Dowman as having chances thanks to England's abundance of high-level talent. Cole said, "Yeah Jude. Cole Palmer could. We've got so much talent. Let's be honest, look at the players. Morgan Rogers, the way he's started." He added, "These players can step up. Harry Kane has opened up the door for all of them to go, 'If Harry can do it'... Not because they're demeaning what Harry is, but you don't have to be Lamine Yamal at 16 or 17, the brightest star in English football. You can be anything."

Full Men's Ballon d'Or rankings

Here is how players placed in the top 30 for the Men's Ballon d'Or award:

  • 1st. Harry Kane
  • 2nd. Kylian Mbappe
  • 3rd. Lamine Yamal
  • 4th. Rodri
  • 5th. Lionel Messi
  • 6th. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia
  • 7th. Ousmane Dembélé
  • 8th. Erling Haaland
  • 9th. Michael Olise
  • 10th. Fabián Ruiz
  • 11th: Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid and England)
  • 12th: Pau Cubarsi (Barcelona and Spain)
  • 13th: Achraf Hakimi (Paris Saint-Germain and Morocco)
  • 14th: Vitinha (Paris Saint-Germain and Portugal)
  • 15th: Declan Rice (Arsenal and England)
  • 16th: Ferran Torres (Barcelona/Paris Saint-Germain and Spain)
  • 17th: Vinícius Junior (Real Madrid and Brazil)
  • 18th: Marc Cucurella (Chelsea/Real Madrid and Spain)
  • 19th: Joao Neves (Paris Saint-Germain and Portugal)
  • 20th: Willian Pacho (Paris Saint-Germain and Ecuador)
  • 21st: Gabriel Magalhaes (Arsenal and Brazil)
  • 22nd: Lautaro Martínez (Inter Milan and Argentina)
  • 23rd: Nuno Mendes (Paris Saint-Germain and Portugal)
  • 24th: Luis Diaz (Bayern Munich and Colombia)
  • 25th: Marquinhos (Paris Saint-Germain and Brazil)
  • 26th: Dayot Upamecano (Bayern Munich and France)
  • 27th: Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United and Portugal)
  • 28th Julián Quinones (Al Qadsiah and Mexico)
  • 29th: Sadio Mane (Al Nassr and Senegal)
  • 29th: William Saliba (Arsenal and France)

Cole continued, "We've got some super talent. Then you add to Max Dowman coming through, we don't know where he's going to develop to. We've never had this big a pool of talent to choose from and it's up to the lads to go and do it."

Owen Hargreaves, a fellow pundit, agreed regarding Bellingham and stated he will "easily" claim a Ballon d'Or in the future. Hargreaves remarked, "It would be Jude. Jude's body of work as a young player is astonishing. Having seen him for the first time at 17, I rang my dad and said, 'You've got to see this kid'. He's got a natural talent that I think is rare and I think he'll easily win the Ballon d'Or one day. Jude, what is he 23? What he's done up to this point is good as any England player I've seen at 23 years old.">