Ballon d’Or 2026: Kane, Mbappé and Yamal all announced winners in bizarre leak from official website
The official Ballon d’Or website has reportedly published winning articles for Kane, Mbappé and Yamal, causing confusion ahead of the ceremony’s final announcement/ Image: AI Generated With the Ballon d’Or ceremony taking place in London in 2026, football fans thought they had discovered the winner before the trophy was handed out after an article appeared on the award’s official website declaring Harry Kane the champion. Excitement quickly turned to confusion when similar articles emerged for Kylian Mbappe and Lamine Yamal, leaving supporters wondering if the result had been leaked or if the organizers had simply prepared their announcements in advance.
It looks like Harry Kane has won the Ballon d’Or
The Bayern Munich striker initially looked set to receive football’s biggest individual prize after an article appeared on the official website titled “Harry Kane to win 2026 Ballon d’Or: Here are his best and most meaningful strikes from a 61-goal season”. The screenshots quickly spread across social media, where England supporters began to celebrate the apparent confirmation of Kane’s victory.Kane entered the ceremony among the leading contenders after an extraordinary season, with reports highlighting his 73 goals for club and country, although the leaked article referred to a 61-goal season.
The Mbappe and Yamal articles add to the confusion
The apparent leak soon became less convincing when articles also appeared on the Ballon d’Or website announcing Kylian Mbappé and Lamine Yamal as winners.One headline read: “Kylian Mbappé wins Ballon d’Or 2026 for consistency personified at the highest level,” while another read: “Lamine Yamal wins Ballon d’Or 2026 and sets unprecedented record!” The site was said to have been prepared in advance for the possibility that one of the three front-runners would be announced on stage, rather than confirming the actual result.The site subsequently removed the page, while the appearance of all three articles left fans with no solid indication of who would receive the award.Yamal, Kane and Mbappe emerged as the frontrunners after outstanding campaigns, with Yamal winning the World Cup with Spain and La Liga with Barcelona, Kane leading Bayern Munich to the Bundesliga title and England’s progress to the World Cup semi-finals in North America, and Mbappe becoming the all-time World Cup goalscorer and winning the 2026 Golden Boot.
The Ballon d’Or countdown continues in London
The ceremony is being held at London’s Palladium Theatre, with the main event scheduled to begin on Monday 26 October at 20:00 GMT, corresponding to 1:30 IST on Tuesday 27 October.France Football has already started revealing the lower ranks, counting down from 30th to 11th in both the men’s and women’s rankings, before the final ten are revealed individually on stage. The countdown will continue until the frontrunners remain and the official winners are announced, meaning that early published articles on the site have offered no confirmed answer.