Articles crowning Harry Kane, Lamine Yamal and Kylian Mbappe all appeared on the official website hours before Monday's ceremony in London.
Someone at the Ballon d'Or website jumped the gun, three times over. Hours before Monday's ceremony at the London Palladium, the official site published separate articles declaring Harry Kane, Lamine Yamal and Kylian Mbappe each the winner of the 2026 men's award. All three posts have since been taken down.
Kane goes into the night as the favourite, backed by 89 goals for club and country in just 81 appearances for Bayern Munich and England since the start of last season. Yamal, Barcelona's young sensation, and Mbappe, the Real Madrid striker, round out the frontrunners whose premature victory articles briefly went live.
Organisers have not explained how the error happened, and it remains unclear which of the three, if any, actually wins when the ceremony gets underway. For now the mix-up has overshadowed the buildup to a prize meant to crown the world's best player of 2026, leaving fans to guess based on an admin error rather than the actual result.