Ballon d’Or website sparks confusion after prematurely naming Harry Kane winner

The Ballon d’Or website sparked confusion on Monday after publishing an article declaring Harry Kane the winner of the 2026 award several hours before the official ceremony in London.

The article, titled “Harry Kane wins the 2026 Ballon d’Or”, began circulating online shortly after 17:15 GMT, more than four hours before the winner was scheduled to be announced at the Palladium Theatre.

The unexpected publication prompted speculation that the award organisers, France Football, had inadvertently revealed the result before the ceremony.

However, further checks of the website uncovered similar articles featuring other leading contenders, including Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal, Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe and Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi.

It remained unclear whether Kane’s article had been published accidentally and whether the subsequent appearance of articles about other nominees was intended to limit the confusion.

By approximately 17:40 BST, the articles featuring Kane and Mbappe had been removed from the website.

Similar pieces had also appeared for women’s award contenders Alexia Putellas of London City Lionesses and Ewa Pajor of Barcelona, with the women’s Ballon d’Or also scheduled to be presented on Monday night.

The premature posts did not establish who had actually won either award, leaving the official announcement as the only confirmation of the results.

For Kane, the episode added an unexpected twist to the build-up to one of football’s most prestigious individual honours. The England captain was seeking to become the first Englishman to win the men’s Ballon d’Or since Michael Owen in 2001.

With the ceremony still to come, Kane and the other contenders had to wait for the official result.

SportsLigue