Harry Kane briefly listed as 2026 Ballon d'Or winner on official site before Palladium ceremony
Harry Kane was briefly announced as the 2026 Ballon d'Or winner on the award's official website shortly after 17:15 GMT on Monday, more than four and a half hours before the result was due to be revealed at a ceremony at London's Palladium Theatre. The article began circulating online and generated immediate confusion.
The Ballon d'Or winner had been voted for by journalists at the end of September. The premature posting prompted widespread online reaction, with some questioning whether France Football, the organisers of the award, had failed to keep the outcome confidential. Subsequent scrutiny of the Ballon d'Or website revealed additional prepared articles beyond the Kane piece.
Those prepared items included articles on Barcelona's Lamine Yamal, Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi of Inter Miami. The three were identified as among the favourites to win the award. It is unclear whether the initial article about Kane was published by mistake and whether the subsequent publication of the remaining articles was part of a damage-control exercise.
Just before 17:40 BST, the articles about Kane and Mbappe had been removed from the website. Similar articles had also been written for the women's awards, including pieces on London City Lionesses star Alexia Putellas and Barcelona's Ewa Pajor. The Putellas and Pajor items named them as two of the favourites for the corresponding women's award, which was also taking place on Monday night.
"If Kane is to realise his dream and become the first Englishman to win the award since 2001, he will have to wait a little longer to find out." BBC Sport pundits have their say on who should win the men's Ballon d'Or, and a Football Daily podcast asks: "Will anyone end Spain's domination of women's Ballon d'Or?"
The official winner will be revealed during the star-studded event at London's Palladium Theatre later on Monday night, and Kane must wait until that announcement to learn whether he has become the first Englishman to win the award since 2001.
