The organizers of the 2026 Ballon d'Or sparked confusion Monday after accidentally publishing articles naming three different players as winners of the men's award, hours before the official ceremony in London.
Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane, Real Madrid forward Kylian Mbappé and Barcelona winger Lamine Yamal were each declared winners in separate articles that briefly appeared on the official Ballon d'Or website before being removed.
The posts surfaced approximately two and a half hours before the ceremony was scheduled to begin at the London Palladium, fueling speculation over who would claim football's most prestigious individual honor.
One article carried the headline "Harry Kane wins 2026 Ballon d'Or," highlighting the England captain's goalscoring performances during the 2025-26 season.
Another named 19-year-old Yamal as the youngest winner in the award's 70-year history, while a third praised Mbappé's consistency at the highest level.
However, organizers France Football clarified that the articles had been prepared in advance for multiple nominees and were mistakenly made public.
"Some profiles of nominees prepared by BallonDor.com were inadvertently published online," the organizers said in a statement to the BBC.
"These articles had been prepared for all nominees and should in no way be considered as an indication of the final results or rankings."
The incident prompted widespread speculation ahead of the ceremony, although none of the prematurely published articles revealed the actual winner.
The men's Ballon d'Or winner was set to be officially announced during Monday evening's gala in London.