Ballon d’Or website sparks confusion after publishing Kane’s name as winner
For a brief moment, it appeared that Harry Kane’s dream of winning the Ballon d’Or had become a reality.
At shortly after 17:15 GMT on Monday, an article titled “Harry Kane wins the 2026 Ballon d’Or” began circulating online after appearing on the award’s official website.
The publication came more than four and a half hours before the winner of football’s most prestigious individual honour was scheduled to be announced at a star-studded ceremony at London’s Palladium Theatre.
The article sparked widespread confusion, with some questioning whether France Football, the award’s organisers, had accidentally revealed the winner despite efforts to keep the result secret following the journalists’ vote at the end of September.
However, further investigation of the Ballon d’Or website revealed similar articles about other leading contenders, including Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal, Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappé and Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi.
It remains unclear whether Kane’s article was published accidentally or whether the subsequent appearance of the other contenders’ profiles was an attempt to contain the situation.
By shortly before 17:40 BST, the articles featuring Kane and Mbappé had been taken down.
Similar pieces had also appeared about Barcelona’s Ewa Pajor and London City Lionesses star Alexia Putellas, both among the leading contenders for the women’s award, which was also due to be presented on Monday night.
Kane, who hopes to become the first Englishman to win the Ballon d’Or since 2001, will have to wait until the official announcement to discover whether he has achieved his ambition.
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