Ballon d'Or website accidentally publishes Kane, Mbappé and Yamal coronation articles

The official Ballon d’Or website accidentally published three separate articles announcing the victories of Harry Kane, Kylian Mbappé and Lamine Yamal late in the day — thus revealing the podium of the 2026 edition before the ceremony itself.

It was insider Romain Molina who first alerted social media after spotting the publication of a text praising the Bayern Munich striker, who scored 61 goals last season. “The official Ballon d’Or website published an article announcing Harry Kane’s victory. Either it’s an error, or it’s bad timing, but in any case it’s the official website,” he wrote.

Molina then confirmed that two other similar articles had been published for Kylian Mbappé and Lamine Yamal. These contents, clearly prepared in advance for each of the major favorites, were published simultaneously by mistake before being quickly removed. “The geniuses managing the Ballon d’Or just deleted the three articles announcing Kane, Mbappé and Yamal’s victories. So they also gave away the top 3 that had to be protected at all costs. Great organization!” the insider wrote sarcastically.

The hasty removal of the three pages was not enough to contain the leak: screenshots had already circulated widely. While Kane, Mbappé and Yamal’s names were already among the overwhelming favorites for the evening, the incident confirms their presence in the top three and deprives the ceremony of some of its suspense.