The official Ballon d’Or website briefly published three articles saying Harry Kane, Lamine Yamal and Kylian Mbappe had won the award before the ceremony on 26 October in London. The pieces appeared at about 5:15pm GMT and were taken down at around 5:45pm GMT.
Three winner articles appeared online
The website published separate articles claiming Kane, Yamal and Mbappe had each won the Ballon d’Or. One published headline said: “Harry Kane wins 2026 Ballon d’Or: Here are his best and most meaningful strikes from a 61-goal season”. Another published article said Yamal had become the youngest winner in Ballon d’Or history.
Ballon d’Or statement
The Ballon d’Or later put out a statement on the mistake, which read: “Portraits of some Ballon d'Or nominees prepared by ballondor.com were inadvertently published online.”
It added: “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.”
Ceremony timing in London
The 2026 Ballon d’Or ceremony was due to take place on 26 October at the London Palladium. The ceremony should have begun at 8pm GMT but was delayed by 30 minutes due to traffic, and the winner was set to be crowned around 9:45pm GMT.