• The official Ballon d'Or website accidentally published articles naming three separate players as winners hours before the ceremony in London
• Daily Mail journalists spotted the error at 5:23 pm and alerted organisers, triggering urgent calls and messages among staff
• One of the three leaked articles remained publicly accessible for over 30 minutes after organisers were first notified of the blunder

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The organisers of the 2026 Ballon d'Or faced significant embarrassment on Monday, October 26, after their official website prematurely published articles declaring Harry Kane, Kylian Mbappé and Lamine Yamal winners of football's most prestigious individual award, hours before the ceremony at London's Palladium Theatre.

The Daily Mail reported that its sports team discovered the articles and contacted organisers at 5:23 pm, well before the official announcement was due.

The alert set off a wave of emergency phone calls and WhatsApp messages as staff worked to pull the content offline.

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Ballon d'Or organisers accidentally announce winners

Each of the three articles had been written as though its subject had already claimed the award.

Kane's piece carried the headline "Harry Kane wins 2026 Ballon d'Or: Here are his best and most meaningful strikes from a 61-goal season" and credited the Bayern Munich striker for his role in the club's domestic treble, as well as his rapid accumulation of 100 goals for the German side.

Yamal's article referred to the 19-year-old Barcelona and Spain winger as the "new king of football" and described him as the youngest Ballon d'Or winner in history.

The piece offered historical context, noting that Lionel Messi claimed his first award at 22 in 2009, while Ronaldo Nazário had previously held the youngest-winner record at 21 years and 92 days.

The article prepared for Mbappé described the Real Madrid forward as "consistency personified at the very highest level", pointing to his World Cup contributions and prolific form at club level.

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Investigation under way

After organisers were alerted, the articles linked to Kane and Mbappé were taken down.

However, Yamal's article reportedly remained live for more than 30 minutes after the warning was issued, compounding the embarrassment for the event's organisers.

The incident is understood to have prompted an internal investigation.

The articles appear to have been pre-written for each of the leading contenders, with the intention that only the correct one would be published after the winner was confirmed on stage.

The premature release suggests a failure in the editorial or publication controls used to manage the scheduled content.

Lamine Yamal tops CIES' Ballon d'Or rankings

YEN.com.gh earlier reported that Lamine Yamal tops the CIES Football Observatory’s 2026 Ballon d’Or rankings, ahead of Kylian Mbappé and Harry Kane.

The list evaluates players’ performances while factoring in the quality of opposition they face.