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The official Ballon d’Or website mistakenly published articles declaring Harry Kane, Kylian Mbappe, and Lamine Yamal as the 2026 winners hours before the actual announcement.
From the left: Harry Kane, Kylian Mbappe and Lamine Yamal.
(AFP)
In a major goof-up, a couple of hours before the declaration of the 2026 Ballon d’Or winner, the official website posted three articles, each declaring Harry Kane, Kylian Mbappe, and Lamine Yamal as winners. The articles looked like profiles of each striker, listing their achievements throughout the year.
Kane’s article was titled, ‘Harry Kane wins 2026 Ballon d’Or: Here are his best and most meaningful strikes from a 61-goal season’.
Yamal’s article had the headline, ‘Lamine Yamal wins the 2026 Ballon d’Or and sets an unprecedented record!’
And Mbappe’s read, ‘Kylian Mbappe wins 2026 Ballon d’Or for consistency personified at the very highest level’.
Screenshots of the article went viral on social media like wildfire, for it was happening just minutes before names started to get released for the bottom five in the rankings. According to some reports, Ballon d’Or organisers were shocked when they got to know about it and launched an investigation.
All three have different cases to make for themselves.
Kane’s case rests on his prolific scoring and domestic dominance with Bayern Munich, having recorded 73 goals and eight assists across all competitions, and also taking the False-9 position to a different level.
Yamal’s 25 goals and 20 assists were complemented by a decisive role in Spain’s World Cup triumph, strengthening his case despite lower individual numbers.
Mbappe finished as La Liga and Champions League top scorer for Real Madrid and won the World Cup Golden Boot with 10 goals, taking his tournament tally to 22.
How could this have happened?
It’s not uncommon for news websites to prepare multiple articles for each of the possible winners. Usually, these are kept in the draft, ready to publish when the official announcement is made. The Ballon d’Or website making the error only shows how some, even in business, have no knowledge of the winner.
It could have easily happened due to a technical glitch or a human mistakenly scheduling the stories. An investigation will certainly be conducted to determine the route cause for the result of this is narrowing the candidates down to three and decreasing the speculation manifold, hours before the announcement.
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Ask News18Hours before the 2026 Ballon d’Or ceremony, the official website accidentally published three separate articles declaring Harry Kane, Kylian Mbappe, and Lamine Yamal as the winners.
Ask News18October 26, 2026, 23:56 IST
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