The Ballon d’Or website has published three separate articles naming Harry Kane, Lamine Yamal and Kylian Mbappe as winner of the 2026 men’s award.
Hours before the ceremony for the 70th edition of the individual accolade at Palladium Theatre in London, chaos descended when a link emerged announcing England captain Kane had received the honour.
“A record-breaking welter of league and cup goals in 2025/26 has propelled Harry Kane to Ballon d’Or success,” read the story on the official website of the prestigious France Football prize.
However, further links were subsequently found to articles hailing Real Madrid forward Mbappe and Barcelona winger Yamal as victors.
!Portraits of some Ballon d’Or nominees prepared by Ballondor.com were inadvertently published online,” the organisers said in a statement.
“These articles had been prepared in advance for all nominees in the event of a win. They do not, in any way, reveal the podium, which remains unknown to everyone at this time.”
All three versions have now been taken down.