Ballon d’Or chaos: The official website revealed the three winners big mistake

The Ballon d’Or ceremony was plunged into chaos before it had even begun after the award’s official website mistakenly published three articles naming Harry Kane, Kylian Mbappe and Lamine Yamal as the winners.

The articles appeared on the website in about two and a half hours before the ceremony at the London Palladiumwhich led to speculation that the organizers had mistakenly revealed the winner of football’s most prestigious individual award.

According to *Daily Mail* journalist Nathan Salt, organizers were shocked by the error and launched an investigation into how the articles were published. The site was later taken down, but not before screenshots began circulating on social media.

THREE PLAYERS NAMED AS WINNERS

Each of the three articles named a different player’s Ballon d’Or winner. An article on Kane highlighted his goals last season, while an article on Yamal described the Barcelona star as the youngest ever winner of the award. The third named Mbappe, praising his goalscoring records and consistency in recent years.

The conflicting reports have left fans wondering if the website published draft articles prepared before the ceremony or accidentally revealed the names of the frontrunners.

One article claimed that Mbappe’s goalscoring performances for Real Madrid earned him his first Ballon d’Or. Another stated that Yamal became the youngest winner of the award, which was first awarded in 1956.

The articles were quickly taken down, but their brief appearance was enough to cause a wave of speculation across the football world.

QUESTIONS HOW THE DEEP HAPPENED

The timing of the error raised further questions, given that voting for the 2026 Ballon d’Or closed on 28 September. Organizers would have had time to prepare coverage in advance, but the publication of three separate articles naming different winners caused confusion.

The incident did not confirm who won the award, and it was unclear whether any of the articles reflected the actual result. The organizers were said to be investigating how the pages were published.

The winner of the Ballon d’Or is decided by an international panel of professional journalists who evaluate the players based on their individual performances, team achievements and behavior during the season.

With the ceremony still to come, a web error has already caused organizers unwanted controversy on one of football’s biggest nights.

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