Harry Kane received the men’s Ballon d’Or on Monday evening, although the result appeared to have been accidentally revealed several hours before the official announcement.
At 17:15 GMT, a story headlined ‘Harry Kane wins the 2026 Ballon d’Or’ appeared on the award’s official website and quickly spread across social media.
Its rapid circulation created confusion, with many questioning whether France Football, which organises the prize, had mistakenly disclosed the outcome after journalists submitted their votes at the end of September.
However, a closer look at the Ballon d’Or website showed that comparable stories had also been prepared and posted for other leading contenders, including Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal and Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe.
A Ballon d’Or representative explained that several nominee profiles created by BallonDor.com had been published online by mistake.
The representative added that articles had been produced for every nominee and did not provide any indication of the final standings or results.
By 17:40, the stories featuring Kane and Mbappe had been taken down from the site.
Equivalent articles were created for London City Lionesses player Alexia Putellas and Barcelona forward Ewa Pajor. Putellas was later officially named the women’s Ballon d’Or winner.
The early publication may have raised Kane’s hopes, but he did not have to wait much longer for confirmation that the trophy was his.
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