Ballon d'Or website accidentally publishes Kane, Mbappé and Yamal as winners hours before ceremony

France Football accidentally published pre-written “winner” announcements for several Ballon d’Or nominees on its official website on Monday, hours before the ceremony at The London Palladium — briefly suggesting Harry Kane, Kylian Mbappé and Lamine Yamal had each claimed the men’s award.

One post read, in part, “Harry Kane wins 2026 Ballon d’Or”, while separate articles declared Mbappé and Yamal the victors. The articles were live on BallonDor.com for a period before being taken down.

The organiser moved quickly to clarify the situation. “Some profiles of nominees prepared by BallonDor.com were inadvertently published online,” France Football said in a statement. “These articles had been prepared for all nominees and should in no way be considered as an indication of the final results or rankings.”

It emerged that the organisation had prepared individual winner announcements for every nominee in advance — standard practice to ensure rapid publication once a result is confirmed — but the drafts were posted publicly well ahead of schedule.

The mishap drew widespread attention on social media, with supporters of each player briefly believing their man had taken the prize. France Football’s statement was intended to reset expectations and confirm that no result had been revealed.

The actual winner of the 2026 men’s Ballon d’Or is set to be announced at the gala ceremony in London.