Illustration of the Ballon d'or trophy during the Liga F match between FC Barcelona and RCD Espanyol de Barcelona at Estadi Johan Cruyff on September 27, 2025 in Barcelona, Spain.
Illustration of the Ballon d'or trophy during the Liga F match between FC Barcelona and RCD Espanyol de Barcelona at Estadi Johan Cruyff on September 27, 2025 in Barcelona, Spain.
The 2026 Ballon d’Or ceremony has been overshadowed by controversy after the award’s official website appeared to prematurely announce three different winners.
Hours before the event at London’s Palladium, separate articles seemingly named Harry Kane, Kylian Mbappe and Lamine Yamal as the winner, sparking widespread speculation across social media and sports media.
All three players were considered leading contenders for football’s most prestigious individual award, but the unexpected publications left fans questioning whether the website had accidentally revealed the results.
According to Daily Mail Sport, organisers were alerted to the mistake at 5.23pm, triggering a flurry of phone calls and WhatsApp messages.
Shocked officials have since launched an investigation, with the articles naming Kane and Mbappé as winners subsequently removed.
However, the article listing Yamal as the winner remained live on the website more than 30 minutes after organisers were informed of the error.
Kane’s article carried the headline: ‘Harry Kane wins 2026 Ballon d’Or: Here are his best and most meaningful strikes from a 61-goal season.’
The piece celebrated the England captain’s outstanding campaign, during which he helped Bayern Munich win a domestic treble and reached 100 goals for the German club in record time.
‘A record-breaking welter of league and cup goals in 2025/26 has propelled Harry Kane to Ballon d’Or success. Here we identify his most iconic and greatest finishes in what has been a bountiful year,’ the article read.
A separate article named Barcelona and Spain star Lamine Yamal as the winner, describing him as the ‘new king of football’ after supposedly setting an ‘unprecedented record’ as the award’s youngest recipient.
‘In fact, at just 19 years of age, Lamine Yamal has just become the youngest winner in the history of the Ballon d’Or, which was established in 1956,’ the article stated.
It added that even Lionel Messi, the record eight-time winner, had not claimed the award at that age. Messi won his first Ballon d’Or in 2009, aged 22 years and 160 days.
More to follow…
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