The Ballon d'Or's official website briefly published winner articles for three different players on Monday, hours before the 2026 ceremony in London, sparking confusion among fans about who had actually won football's biggest individual prize.

An article titled as a Harry Kane victory, citing his 61-goal season for Bayern Munich, surfaced first and spread rapidly across social media, with England supporters beginning to celebrate. Similar winner articles then emerged for Kylian Mbappé and Lamine Yamal, before the posts were deleted. The organisers had likely prepared announcements for each leading contender in advance.

Kane's case, on the numbers

Kane entered the ceremony among the leading contenders after an extraordinary season. He scored 61 goals in 51 Bayern Munich appearances in 2025/26, helping the club win the Bundesliga and DFB Cup and reach the Champions League semi-finals, and added 12 more for England — 73 for club and country in total, including six at the World Cup, where England finished third. He would become the first Englishman to win the Ballon d'Or since Michael Owen 25 years ago.

The 70th edition of the award takes place at the London Palladium on Monday evening. The 30-player shortlist is voted on by specialist journalists from 100 countries, ranking 10 players each on individual performance and decisive impact first, then team achievements and fair play.

What is actually known

What is known tonight is only the leak itself: three prepared winner articles appeared and were removed, and talkSPORT reports it understands Mbappé will be named the winner. That is a report, not an announcement, and it sits alongside the Kane article that fans saw first. Until France Football announces the result on stage, every claim about the winner — including this one — should be treated as unconfirmed.

Source: talkSPORT