Ballon d’Or winner Harry Kane and the Irish team of England players that never was

The sight of Harry Kane winning the Ballon d’Or in London this week was a painful reminder to Irish fans of what might have been.

The Bayern Munich striker scored 61 goals in all competitions in his most recent complete season, though the biggest prize of all, the World Cup, once again eluded him with England.

When Kane was at Tottenham Hotspur, the fans would sing “he’s one of own” in support of Kane, who came through the ranks at the club’s academy after being let go by archrivals Arsenal.

Irish fans could have sung the same chant had he opted to play for Ireland instead of England. Kane is wholly Irish on his father’s side. His grandfather, Michael John Kane, was from Letterfrack, Co Galway, and his grandmother, Phylis, was from Caherline, Co Limerick.

Like a half-a-million other Irish people in the grim 1950s, they emigrated to England in search of work and opportunities denied to them at home.

Unfortunately for Ireland, Kane opted to play for the country of his birth. He is far and away England’s top scorer of all time with 91 goals in 125 international appearances. At the age of 33 but showing no signs of slowing, he will surely break 100 goals at international level if he maintains his present trajectory - enough to place him fourth on the global all-time list led by Cristiano Ronaldo.

“We were all glued to the screen for the Ballon d’Or announcement,” said James Kane, a first cousin of Harry Kane’s father, Patrick. “It is testament to the amount of goals he has put in this season. I would have been surprised had he not won it.”

[ Harry Kane’s Ballon d’Or triumph a glorious riposte to celebrity fawning of ceremony ]

Harry Kane last visited Letterfrack in 2013 for his grandfather’s funeral. Then he was a promising 20-year-old striker who had spent time out on loan, not the superstar he would become.

His great-uncle Paudge died five years ago and left the family homestead to Harry Kane, his brother Charlie and their father.

“[Harry] is a very humble fellow. His father and his grandfather were like that,” James Kane said.

The England captain’s great-grandmother was from the Aran Islands and was a native Irish speaker.

Patrick and Charlie Kane were at the Ballon d’Or announcement in London on Monday.

Harry’s England teammate Jude Bellingham was also nominated for the Ballon d’Or this year. He was placed 11th, but would have featured higher had last season not been blighted by injuries.

The Real Madrid midfielder has been unplayable at times for club and country this season. He, too, could have played for Ireland.

His paternal grandmother is from Dublin. Bellingham is even pictured in a photograph as a child wearing an Irish shirt. His father Mark posted during the Covid-19 pandemic: “This half Irish kid [Mark] is going to go online and watch his mixed race England U21 international son [Jude] make his competitive debut in the German Cup.”

There were tentative efforts by the Ireland under-21 manager Jim Crawford to get Bellingham to play for Ireland, but the player, already marked out as a potential superstar, politely declined.

It didn’t stop Bellingham applying for an Irish passport when he joined Real Madrid in 2023 to get around non-EU player limits. Fellow England international Conor Gallagher, who also qualifies to play for Ireland, availed of the same loophole when he joined Atlético Madrid in 2024.

All may not be lost though. Jude’s younger brother Jobe, who plays for Borussia Dortmund and is the England under-21 captain, is also eligible for the Republic of Ireland, though so far he has rebuffed approaches by the Football Association of Ireland (FAI).

Of the 20 goals England scored in the 2026 World Cup, 14 of them were scored by Ireland-eligible players: Bellingham (7), Kane (6) and Declan Rice, who actually won three caps for Ireland in friendlies before declaring permanently for England.

Barcelona winger Anthony Gordon, who scored in the semi-final against Argentina, has been reported to be eligible for both the Republic of Ireland and Scotland, though he chose England.

Then there is the case of Jack Grealish, who played GAA while growing up near Birmingham and was capped by Ireland at under-age level.

That so many Irish-eligible players are now playing for England is not a big surprise given the size of the diaspora there.

The number of Irish-born people in Britain has been steadily decreasing in recent decades. It peaked in 1961 when more than 900,000 Irish-born people, mostly from the Republic, were living in Britain. It was down to 325,000 in the last UK census of 2021.

While the number of Irish-born is declining, the numbers eligible to play for Ireland are growing as the grandchildren of the generations that came over from the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s come through the ranks.

Some estimates suggest six million people living in Britain have at least one Irish grandparent. That’s more than the population of the State.

Here are England’s greatest XI who could have played for Ireland:

Joe Corrigan: The former Manchester City goalkeeper, who played 16 seasons with the club, was eligible to play for Ireland through his Roscommon-born father. He opted instead to play for England and won nine caps at a time when the country had two world-class goalkeepers in Ray Clemence and Peter Shilton.

Michael Keane: The Everton centre-back played underage for the Republic of Ireland, but opted to play at senior level for England and won 12 caps. His brother Will did opt for Ireland and won five caps.

Gary Cahill: The former Chelsea captain won 61 caps for England. He pronounces his surname the English way – Kay-hill – and opted to play for England, though he has an Irish grandfather.

Rio Ferdinand: The classy Manchester United centre-half’s grandmother was from Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh, making him eligible to play either for the Republic of Ireland or Northern Ireland. Instead, he won 81 caps for England. His brother Anton could also have played for Ireland, but chose England and never won a senior cap.

Martin Keown: The former Arsenal defender and television pundit could have played for either the Republic of Ireland or Northern Ireland. His mother was from Ballybrit across the road from the racecourse in Galway city. He played Gaelic football as a child growing up in Oxford and won 43 caps for England. His son Niall played underage for Ireland.

Declan Rice: Premier League winner with Arsenal and fulcrum in the England team. Won three caps for Ireland before switching.

Peter Reid: The tenacious former Everton midfielder won 36 caps for England. His Irish grandfather Paddy was in Boland’s Mills in 1916.

Jude Bellingham: Probably the best midfielder in the world at the moment.

Jack Grealish: The winger, who played underage for Ireland, broke Irish hearts by declaring for England. At Aston Villa and occasionally for Manchester City, he was world-class.

Wayne Rooney: “If you could have played for any other country, what one would it be,” Rooney was asked recently on the Stick to Football Overlap podcast. “Ireland,” he responded without missing a beat. Rooney revealed he was approached by Mick McCarthy to play for Ireland, but declined. Our loss was England’s gain. He scored 56 goals for his country, making him the second-highest goalscorer after Kane.

Harry Kane: Ballon d’Or winner and unquestionably England’s greatest striker.