Ballon d'Or Website Briefly Publishes Article Naming Harry Kane Winner
A premature article appeared on the Ballon d'Or's official website, suggesting Harry Kane had won the prestigious award, causing online confusion.
An article from the Ballon d'Or's official website that declared Harry Kane the winner of the 2026 award circulated online Monday, several hours before the official ceremony.
The article, titled "Harry Kane wins the 2026 Ballon d'Or," appeared shortly after 5:15 p.m. GMT, over four and a half hours before the award winner was set to be announced at an event in London. The premature publication led to confusion among observers, with some questioning if France Football, the award's organizer, had failed to keep the winner secret.
Further investigation of the Ballon d'Or website revealed that similar articles had also been prepared and published for other favored contenders, including Lamine Yamal of Barcelona, Kylian Mbappe of Real Madrid, and Lionel Messi of Inter Miami. By shortly before 5:40 p.m. BST, the articles concerning Kane and Mbappe had been removed from the site.
It remains unclear whether the articles were published in error or if their removal was a deliberate attempt at damage control. Similar pieces were also reportedly written about Alexia Putellas of Barcelona and Ewa Pajor, who are considered frontrunners for the women's Ballon d'Or award.
Kane, if he were to win, would be the first Englishman to receive the award since 2001. The incident means that for now, he and the other potential recipients must wait until the official announcement to discover the outcome.