Did the Ballon d’Or website accidentally reveal the winner in advance?

Did the Ballon d'Or website accidentally reveal the winner in advance?

Key points

• The anticipation is building for the 2026 Ballon d'Or ceremony, but a lot of the excitement almost went out of the room in London.
• Fans on the official Ballon d'Or website unearthed an article revealing that the favorite for the award, England and Bayern Munich forward Harry Kane, had won.
• Jon Arnold breaks down a wide-open Ballon d'Or race and why Mbappe, Kane and Yamal each have a solid case for soccer's top individual honor.
• Ballon d'Or race wide open as Mbappe, Kane and Yamal compete for top honor.
• The articles were all taken down within minutes of going live.

For context, the anticipation is building for the 2026 Ballon d'Or ceremony, but a lot of the excitement almost went out of the room in London.

Fans on the official Ballon d'Or website unearthed an article revealing that the favorite for the award, England and Bayern Munich forward Harry Kane, had won. "Harry Kane wins 2026 Ballon d'Or. Here are his best and most meaningful strikes from a 61-goal season, " the article was titled.

Shortly, even so, fans additionally were able to locate pages titled "Lamine Yamal wins the 2026 Ballon d'Or and sets an unprecedented record" and "Kylian Mbappe wins 2026 Ballon d'Or for consistency personified at the very highest level."

All three pages being live indicates that the organizers of the prestigious prize have pre-written articles ready to go for the moment the award is confirmed, but didn't realize fans would be able to discover where the articles were sitting, live on the official site. The articles were all taken down within minutes of going live.

Meanwhile, the three players with articles unearthed are at present the top favorites to win the award, whose winner will be officially unveiled at a ceremony beginning at 3 p.m. ET/9 p.m. London time. SMS Facebook Twitter Email. Share your feedback to support improve our site! Share your feedback to support improve our site!

For now, did the Ballon dOr website accidentally reveal the winner in advance? Remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.