The anticipation is building for the 2026 Ballon d'Or ceremony, but a lot of the excitement nearly went out of the room in London.
Fans on the official Ballon d'Or website unearthed an article revealing that the favorite for the award, England and Bayern Munich forward Harry Kane, had won. "Harry Kane wins 2026 Ballon d'Or. Here are his best and most meaningful strikes from a 61-goal season," the article was titled.
Soon, however, fans also were able to locate pages titled "Lamine Yamal wins the 2026 Ballon d'Or and sets an unprecedented record" and "Kylian Mbappe wins 2026 Ballon d'Or for consistency personified at the very highest level."
All three pages being live indicates that the organizers of the prestigious prize have pre-written articles
ready to go for the moment the award is announced, but didn't realize fans would be able to discover where the articles were sitting, live on the official site.
It appears to be a massive blooper from Ballon d'Or, as similar articles went live with Lamine Yamal and Kylian Mbappé also credited with the 2025-2026 Mens' Ballon d'Or. https://t.co/WK5LTPYwW8 pic.twitter.com/3Day9XzJ1X
— Get French Football News (@GFFN) October 26, 2026
The articles were all taken down within minutes of going live.
The three players with articles unearthed are currently the top favorites to win the award, whose winner will be officially announced at a ceremony beginning at 3 p.m. ET/9 p.m. London time.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Did the Ballon d'Or website accidentally reveal the winner in advance?
