Sports · Football · 3 hrs ago
Ballon d’Or website names three players ahead of ceremony
Before the Ballon d’Or ceremony in London, the award’s website named three different players as winners: Harry Kane, Kylian Mbappé and Lamine Yamal.
The pages appeared hours before the event and were later removed.
One account said the three players had made the top three, while the conflicting winner headlines left the actual result unclear.
The Ballon d’Or is an individual football award, first presented in 1956.
A jury of specialist journalists chooses the winner based on players’ performances, team achievements and conduct during the season.
Voting for the 2026 award had closed on September 28, and organisers were investigating how the pages went live.
The ceremony was still to come when the mistake surfaced, so the published pages did not settle who had won.
The Ballon d’Or website briefly published separate articles naming Harry Kane, Kylian Mbappé and Lamine Yamal as winners ahead of the 2026 ceremony in London.
The articles appeared about two and a half hours before the ceremony and were later removed.
Organizers said the articles had been prepared in advance for all nominees and did not indicate the results or rankings.
Daily Mail reported that organizers launched an investigation after being alerted to the pages.
Kicker reported that Kane, Mbappé and Yamal had finished in the top three.
- Who
- Harry Kane, Kylian Mbappé and Lamine Yamal were named in the articles.
- What
- The Ballon d’Or website mistakenly published three articles declaring different players winners. The organizers said the articles did not reveal the results.
- When
- October 26, 2026, about two and a half hours before the ceremony.
- Where
- The official Ballon d’Or website; the ceremony was scheduled at the London Palladium in London.
- Why
- Organizers said the articles had been prepared in advance for all nominees and were published online inadvertently.
Ballon d’Or organizers
Kicker
What the articles revealed
Ballon d’Or organizers
The organizers said the articles did not indicate the final results or rankings.
Kicker
Kicker reported that Kane, Mbappé and Yamal had made the top three.
Voting for the 2026 Ballon d’Or closed, according to India Today.
Three articles naming Kane, Mbappé and Yamal as winners appeared on the official website.
Daily Mail Sport said it alerted the organizers to the mistake.
The articles were removed, and organizers said they had been published inadvertently.
- Named in separate articles
- Harry Kane, Kylian Mbappé and Lamine Yamal
- Ceremony venue
- The London Palladium
- Time before ceremony
- About two and a half hours
- Voting closed
- September 28, 2026
- Daily Mail alert time
- 5:23pm GMT, October 26
5 sources
Panne beim Ballon d'Or: Top 3 mehrere Stunden vor Veröffentlichung enthüllt
Ballon d'Or Winner Leaked? Kane, Mbappe And Yamal All Subjects Of Accidental Post
Ballon d'Or blunder names Lamine Yamal, Kane, Mbappé as winners
Ballon d'Or chaos: Official website leaks three winners in major blunder
Ballon d'Or plunged into CHAOS as esteemed event announces Harry Kane, Kylian Mbappe and Lamine Yamal ALL as winners on official website just hours before the ceremony
What people are saying
Some profiles of nominees prepared by BallonDor.com were inadvertently published online
These articles had been prepared for all nominees and should in no way be considered as an indication of the final results or rankings.
They DO NOT, in any way, reveal the podium, which remains unknown to everyone at this time.